While West Ham United Under-23s’ domestic form shows little sign of slowing, Premier League International Cup action returns to east London this week to present the young Hammers with a very different kind of challenge altogether.
Lead coach Dmitri Halajko’s side go into Wednesday night’s game against Wolfsburg ‘B’ seeking another three points in Group B of the competition, which pits top English Academy sides against the best developmental squads in Europe.
Having already defeated Valencia ‘B’ 1-0 last month through a solitary strike by Nathan Holland, the Hammers will be hoping to take another step towards qualification for the knockout stages at Rush Green Stadium.
The U23s go into the game full of confidence, unbeaten in Premier League 2 Division 2 with almost half the league campaign played, but Halajko has warned that Wednesday night could prove a tough examination of their credentials.
“It’s Wolfsburg’s ‘B’ team I believe we’re playing,” Halajko observed. “I think they beat Valencia 4-0 in the other game, and Valencia were a strong side when we played them, so it’s looking like a real, real tough test for us.
“We’ll therefore go into the game wanting to try and dominate the ball as much as we can. To do that we have to win it back, nice and early, sit on the ball and play some of the nice, attacking football we’ve done at times this season.”
There’s been a definite improvement in our control of games recently. It’s not been perfect, we’ve still got room for improvement obviously, but it’s a definite improvement to where we were at the start of the season.
Dmitri Halajko
The U23s played arguably their best football of the season across two games last week, enjoying comfortable 4-0 and 4-1 league victories away at Stoke and Norwich respectively.
Opponents Wolfsburg ‘B’, meanwhile, have participated in the Premier League International Cup in each of the last three seasons, but are yet to escape the group stages, from which the six group winners – plus the two best runners-up – advance.
Halajko is hoping that his side can therefore build on their recent displays and play to a similar level against challenging opposition on Wednesday night.
“There’s been a definite improvement in our control of games recently,” Halajko said. “It’s not been perfect, we’ve still got room for improvement obviously, but it’s a definite improvement to where we were at the start of the season.
“We’re controlling the ball now, with longer possession, passes, keeping it a bit more, probing, switching it, and drawing teams out a lot more than we were at the start of the season. It’s something we’ve been working on and it’s definitely getting better, so hopefully we can build on that.”
After Wednesday evening’s game against Wolfsburg ‘B’ at Rush Green Stadium, West Ham U23s’ third and final group stage game will take place against Brighton & Hove Albion U23s on Wednesday 27 November.
