As the players head back to training, what can next season look like for the Hammers? After a brilliant end to last season, I am really hopeful for next season, especially if we keep our best players, which is starting to look increasingly likely. For the last few seasons we have had great ends to the campaign but have lost our best players who have also been massive characters in the squad, which has meant constant rebuilding. This season is starting to look different which I’m very happy about.
Outgoings: Saying Goodbye to Squad Players
We have seen five players leave us this summer on a free, the biggest name on the list is right back Kirsty Smith. Smith played 69 games for us over three years, but nearing the end of the season, she hasn’t received the amount of game time she wants due to the massive impact Anouk Denton is having for us. Also at the age of 31, it was expected that she may be on her way out of the club. She has recently gone to Nottingham Forest who are in the Women’s Championship. The other players who have left the club this summer are; Marika Bergman Lundin, Shannon Cooke, Emma Harries and Katelin Talbert. I am sad to see Cooke and Harries go but under the system we play and the players that are in front of them, it was expected as they are used more as squad players than starters.
A Major Plus: Contract Extensions
At the end of last season, Rehanne Skinner extended her contract at the club which was a massive plus as she had finally got the team she wanted and results were coming alongside that. Another major plus is seeing we have extended two player’s contracts, these are; Megan Walsh and Shelina Zadorski. Walsh started to get her chance later on in the season but is definitely a player we want to keep for the future. For Zadorski, she is a player Skinner knows well from her time at Spurs but is a constant starter in our team so to see her go would have been very demoralising but thankfully that won’t be the case.
International Commitments and Squad Depth
We haven’t made any new signings yet which is a bit upsetting especially when we have let a few squad players leave, but I am sure we will start signing more players when the Euros, AFCON and Copa America have finished. Most of our players are back at training now but we did have some players representing their nation this summer in various competitions. These included Dagny Brynjarsdottir for Iceland, Amber Tysiak for Belgium, Manuela Pavi for Columbia at the Copa America, Kinga Szemik for Poland, and both Eva Nyström and Oona Siren for Finland. As most of our players didn’t make it out of their respective groups, they have still received an extended break so they should still be fit and ready for the start of the season.
Ambition: Top Five and a Cup Run
I’m really hopeful for next season, I believe we have built such a good foundation over the last year and that should allow us this season to push on. It is looking likely we will be keeping Vivianne Asseyi, Katrina Gorry, Riko Ueki and Shekiera Martinez, which is massive. After losing a few squad players though, I do believe we need to bring in a few quality players which will hopefully happen now all international tournaments have finished. Another major cup run would be brilliant. We have reached at least the quarter finals of one competition the last three years and in two we have reached the semi so hopefully a final this year. I am also hoping for a top five finish. We showed everyone at the end of last season that we can compete against all of the big top four, so if we can do this over the whole season there is no reason why we can’t be up there.
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