Graham Potter is hopeful West Ham United can build on a positive 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last time out and gain further momentum when they make the short trip to Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday night.
The Hammers are set to contest the first of three consecutive London derbies under the lights at Stamford Bridge, armed with another full week of training behind them as they go in search of a second victory under the Head Coach’s tutelage.
Three top-flight games since the 9 January appointment of Potter have yielded one win, one defeat and one draw so far, but - speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon - Potter has been buoyed by the progress being made by his players on and off the pitch.
Indeed, a well-deserved point at Villa Park last time out served as the ideal response to the disappointing reverse at the hands of Crystal Palace just over a week earlier, and now the boss is eyeing more success and an improvement on the side’s 14th-place standing in the table.
A trip to six-time English champions Chelsea promises a tough test, with Enzo Maresca’s outfit currently sitting sixth in the table and comfortably through to the UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 as the league phase’s highest-ranked team.
The Blues have only registered one win in their last seven in the Premier League however, while they were defeated 3-1 by Manchester City last time out, and Potter is confident the Irons can cause their old rivals problems across the capital.
The fixture is particularly pertinent to our Head Coach, with Monday’s match marking his first back at Chelsea since he left his role as manager of the west Londoners in April 2023. It will also take place on transfer deadline day, with the window set to shut at 11pm GMT.
With the anticipation continuing to build ahead of this enticing clash, Potter sat down with the media to discuss his former club, transfer challenges and work behind the scenes, while he was also asked about abuse aimed at match officials, in the wake of the recent PGMOL statement related to threats directed at Michael Oliver…
Deadline day matchday
It is what it is. I’m looking forward to the game, and I’m probably looking forward to the closing of the window, as well.
It being deadline day doesn’t change anything from my perspective. We’ll just prepare for the game as normal, and focus on the players we have, working behind the scenes on the things we think are right.
Transfer talk
The Club, the board and the Chairman have been fantastic, and really supportive. They want to help, and if anything it’s me and my team trying to find the right players. We’re all aligned, but I want to make the right decisions for this Club.
Signing a player is easy - there are so many agents pushing players left, right and centre. But signing the right one, for the right price, who fits how you want to play, who fits into the group - that’s difficult.
If we find the right player, we’ll absolutely do something, because the ambition is there to do it and the support is there to do it. But at the same time, I have to be true to myself, true to the team and the Club, and make sure it’s the right player, because if not it can cause problems in the short, medium and long term.
It’s a complicated window, as I’ve said before, and I’m not going to speak about anyone who isn’t a West Ham player.
Return to Stamford Bridge
I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been back there as a pundit, but now I’m going back as a Head Coach with another team.
I had some good times at Chelsea, and some special nights against the likes of AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund in the [UEFA] Champions League. Overall, the results weren’t ideal during my time at the club, but I’ve never had a problem with anyone at Chelsea.
I wish them well as a Club, and I’m thankful for my time there because it’s part of my journey. I’m here now, and I’m delighted about that.
Tough Chelsea challenge
I think Enzo Maresca has done a really good job, in terms of stabilising the Chelsea squad and rejuvenating it. They have a lot of talent.
They build in different ways depending on who they’re coming up against, but everything is clear and everything makes sense.
They’re challenging for the Champions League, and they’re at home so will be looking for all three points, so it’s going to be a tough game. But, we have to go there and play to our strengths, with plenty of encouragement and enthusiasm.
Players up for the challenge
We were beaten by Crystal Palace at the end of a stretch with three games in quick succession, and we were playing a team in form and we weren’t quite at our level for a number of reasons.
But you almost have to zoom out of that and look at the bigger picture, and the reaction from the players has been really positive. You can see a group that is trying - they want to play football, they want to do better than they’ve been doing, and we have to try and help them do that.
They’ve dusted themselves down since that Palace game, accepted they weren’t as good as we’d like them to be, and tried to put on a better performance in their next match. They did that against Aston Villa last weekend, and now we have to take another step forward against Chelsea on Monday.
It’s not a straight road, and there are going to be ups and downs, but as long as the mentality is there, and the togetherness, we’ll be strong. That’s the most important thing for us.
Continuing to build relationships
There are some really good players here at this Club, and there’s ambition. It’s just about collectively going in the same direction, and everyone buying in and doing their best.
It’s not going to be perfect - we might have an idea about what we want things to look like, but the reality is a bit different at the moment and step-by-step we have to try and get there. How you do that is by improving every day
The signs so far have been very positive, in terms of how we’ve worked with the players day after day.
Support for match officials
I think it’s difficult to do anything about what people write on social media. All we can do is support the referees and acknowledge what a difficult job they do, and actually what a good job they do.
As often as we can, we need to behave in a way that is respectful to referees, because we’re sort of the role models in terms of how we conduct ourselves in a game, albeit there are a lot of stressful situations.
We need referees, and the game isn’t a game without them. So, we need to support them. There is a danger in terms of people not wanting to get into refereeing, because of the levels of abuse. It’s something we all have to consider, and we have to have respect for the job they do.
Speaking to referees, I get the sense that they always want to get better, and to provide a better service to the game to make the game better. But at the same time, they’re human beings, and they’re going to make mistakes, just like players and managers do. Then, it’s about how we can support them to help them and the game improve.
