West Ham United

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at home against Chelsea (12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Defender Emerson "fortunately" did not pick up a "big knock" in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Fulham but "we have to review". Elsewhere, Lopetegui added: "We are trying to recover all the players. We need to wait until tomorrow to know more about the players with little injuries."

• He had a message for Hammers fans: "Very grateful. They always support us, not only in home matches but away too. We feel that and we are very happy for this. We want to give them good news and good matches."

• On not picking up a Premier League point at home so far this season: "All of the teams have quality and are able to beat anyone. It's true we've had tough matches so far, but that's in the past."

• Lopetegui is also pleased with how the squad is adapting to his style: "I am very happy with the players. They are working hard every day [and] with this commitment I am sure step by step we are going to improve."

• On Saturday's London derby against the Blues: "We know that we are going to play against a big team with top players. Good coach, good idea and they are trying to develop one way to work and play."

• On West Ham's recent strong home record against Chelsea: "That's in the past. It's not going to help us in this match. Every match is different. We know we're playing a strong team, and we have to be ready."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Image source, Getty Images

It feels like West Ham fans can be quite hard to please.

Under David Moyes, they were getting results, won the Europa Conference League, but were not playing pretty football and in the end the fans were not happy with that.

They wanted attractive football and I remember quoting last season - "you're happy to play attractive football without results?" And they were saying "yep, it's better than what we watch every week, we pay all this money to watch rubbish under David Moyes".

But when you have somebody that comes in with a completely different philosophy, which Julen Lopetegui does have compared to what Moyes had and the players were used to, it is going to need patience.

What I would say to West Ham fans is, we have seen what Lopetegui did and built at Wolves, which was good, and we look at what Andoni Iraola has done with Bournemouth since he arrived. He struggled in those first nine games of the season, but the owners have put trust and patience in him to build something.

It can take time when there is such a big shift in styles, it can take time for players to gel and connect and I think that is where West Ham are at right now. Given that patience, Lopetegui can get them to where they want to be, but it is a patience game.

The fans have asked for it and it will take time to transition the team from the defence mindset to become this expansive, front-footed, open team. The club made that decision to push Moyes out and bring Lopetegui in and now they have to stick with that.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

West Ham portray themselves as a family club. That sometimes does not show itself, particularly around ticket price rises this summer - although the club will still argue, for a London team, they are one of the cheapest in the Premier League.

However, they do a huge amount of community work and have tried hard to maintain and nurture their links to the supporter base.

It will have been particularly sad therefore to learn young Hammers fan Elliott Eley had passed away.

Elliott was only 11 and was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease shortly after he was born. The illness affects the digestive and immune systems and currently has no cure.

He was a mascot on the opening day of the season when the Hammers played Aston Villa and got to walk out with skipper Jarrod Bowen. He was also a guest of the club on a training ground visit in the summer.

The club released a statement and posted on social media, external to say it was "devastated" to learn Elliott had passed away.

West Ham and Manchester United are keen on 29-year-old Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka, who is unhappy after losing his place at Bayern Munich. (Sun), external

Meanwhile, the Hammers, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Wolves are among the admirers of Red Bull Salzburg's 24-year-old French defender Oumar Solet. (HITC), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

James Jones
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is still incredibly early days to be coming to any kind of judgement about Julen Lopetegui's West Ham.

In the middle of West Ham's 1-1 draw with Fulham on Saturday, with the Hammers trailing at the time, my good friend, business partner and podcast co-host - who was at Craven Cottage - sent me a string of messages that made it seem like the sky was falling in.

"We're coming 12th, and we're gonna concede 500 goals this season. We're making Fulham look like Brazil. I cannot tell you what the plan is."

Some West Ham fans who were in attendance on Saturday may be inclined to agree with the above hyperbole. However, it is easy to forget that we're still only four games into the new season, with half of the club's summer signings still getting up to speed.

On top of that, West Ham have already played two of last season's top four, and played pretty well in both games.

So, although an undeserved 1-1 draw at Fulham thanks to a 95th-minute Danny Ings equaliser might sound underwhelming, there is still reason to believe that improvement in performances, and indeed results, are around the corner.

The fixture list has not been kind to West Ham in these early stages. We host Chelsea this weekend and then travel to Brentford, where we have not won in the league since their promotion a few years ago. We also face Manchester United and Tottenham in the next five weeks.

With a new manager and eight new signings to bed in, it is going to take a lot longer than four games for West Ham to be the finished article under Lopetegui. We might not even see it until next season.

Patience, please. Let's not throw our toys out of the pram just yet. We've barely had the chance to play with them.

Find more from James Jones at We Are West Ham, external

Eintracht Frankfurt and Egypt striker Omar Marmoush is keen to secure a Premier League move, with West Ham, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Liverpool all interested in the 25-year-old. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Fulham and West Ham.

Here are some of your comments:

Fulham fans

Keir: We switched off and lost two points. That's the one thing we haven’t fixed from last season, but the new signings have shown their talent. Looking forward to better things to come.

Sean: Dominated large parts of the match, but if you don’t take your chances in this division you’ll be made to pay. Reiss Nelson looks a good acquisition, albeit only on loan.

Marko: Tom Cairney is a club legend but a massive liability. We were punished for not finishing the game and instead playing for a 1-0. Nelson looked bright and ultimately Fulham's poor judgement mixed with some poor officiating (Soler should have been sent off and I am certain it was not West Ham's throw-in the build-up to the goal) We move on.

West Ham fans

Dave: Another game that suggests we are going to have to be very patient with this West Ham team. They were largely ineffective in the first half but Lopetegui is not afraid to make the changes required to get a result and perseverance paid off. There is still room for improvement, however, and we may not see the best of this team for a little while yet.

Mike: Outplayed and outthought. Second best the whole game. Very lucky to get a point.

Keith: The West Ham team after the subs were made should be our starting line-up with Todibo given a start. We looked much better in the latter part of the second half.

Strikers Michail Antonio and Danny Ings could both leave West Ham United before the expiry of their respective deals next summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Gary Linker brings you highlights and analysis from Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest

• Aston Villa 3-2 Everton

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

It may have taken a 95th minute equaliser but West Ham got there in the end and without Jarrod Bowen in their side, that draw may well have been a loss.

The Hammers captain started the game playing out in his normal role on the right of the front three but the was shifted in field to play as a striker for the second half.

Bowen was isolated in the opening 45 minutes with Michail Antonio failing to link with his skipper and Mohammed Kudus.

With the introduction of Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta at half-time, Bowen was able to link with the talented attackers.

Bernd Leno's brilliant outstretched leg prevented the England international from equalising himself when he was trying to drag his side back into it.

Despite it looking likely the Hammers would fall to their third Premier League defeat in four games, Bowen kept pressing and pressing and eventually his hard work came to fruition.

Bowen found one last sprint to collect the ball in the box to then feed Danny Ings and the striker needed two touches to draw his side level with virtually the last kick of the game.

Image source, Getty Images

Julen Lopetegui spoke to BBC Match of the Day after West Ham drew with Fulham: "We are happy because we achieved one point in the last minute. We believed until the end. We ran, we fought. It is true we have have to improve things. The second half I think we did better. I'm happy with the commitment but we have a lot of work to do."

On Emerson going off injured: "He suffered one big knock. He has pain. Let's see. We'll know more tomorrow."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Fulham’s performance, external

What did you make of West Ham’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

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BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Liverpool v Nottingham Forest

• Aston Villa v Everton

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week four, he takes on Femi Koleoso and Ife Ogunjobi from jazz band Ezra Collective, the 2023 Mercury Music Prize winners.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

This is tricky. These kind of games are the reason I have been losing every week, because I really can't call them.

Fulham are bright and try to play good football, but West Ham are the same. The Hammers actually ran Manchester City pretty close before the international break, but still ended up losing.

There will be chances at both ends but I can't pick a winner, so I'm going to go with a draw.

In fact, the more I think about it the more this game has got a draw written all over it.

Femi's prediction: 2-1

I'm going to go with my heart - I want Fulham to win because of Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi and Reiss Nelson. They have become like an Arsenal B team really.

Ife's prediction: 1-2

Fulham have got a good team and have made some decent additions, but I think West Ham will take this one.

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Getty Images

Carlos Soler could make his West Ham debut against Fulham on Saturday after joining the club on loan from Paris St-Germain.

However, manager Julen Lopetegui has informed the midfielder that referees in England will let more fouls go compared with what he has been used to on the continent.

"There is a big difference,” said the Spaniard. "The rhythm is the biggest difference. The physical demand and the style too. I always say the same.

“The biggest difference about the rhythm is the referees. The referees in England - maybe it’s no foul, but in Spain it’s a yellow card. This changes the game, this changes the rhythm and we have to adapt.

“I like it, I like it a lot. But it’s true that we have to adapt and, for the players, it’s sometimes not easy to adapt to this pace or this rhythm - this demand.

“They need time to understand what happens around them. That’s why we try to help them.”

Over the international break, the Hammers boss has been pondering Jarrod Bowen's best position.

The England forward came on for Harry Kane against both the Republic of Ireland and Finland, filling in the central striking role. Lopetegui has so far used Bowen out wide in his first three matches in charge.

New signing Niclas Fullkrug is an injury doubt for the game against Fulham, while Michail Antonio may need time to recover from a long flight after international duty with Jamaica.

This could lead to Bowen starting as a striker to face Marco Silva's side.

When asked about Bowen's best position, Lopetegui said: "On the pitch."

He continued: "But it depends. He can play different positions - on the right, as a striker, number 10 too. Good players can always adapt. The smart players even more."

Last week, we asked you to tell us one thing that was not being talked about at your club but really should be on the agenda.

Many of you mentioned West Ham's dilemma in the frontline as something that needed a deeper debate, so we got Holly Turbutt from West Ham Network to give her solution.

Find more from Holly Turbutt at West Ham Network, external

Max Kilman says playing at West Ham is a "massive honour" and has explained his roots in the area.

In an interview with Football Focus, Kilman says he grew up close to the club.

"It's a huge move, coming to a massive club like West Ham," he says.

Watch Football Focus on Saturday, 14 September at 12:00 BST on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

WATCH MORE: Was this the best goal of the month contest ever?

West Ham are interested in signing ex-Liverpool defender Joel Matip, 33, on a free transfer with the German-born Cameroon defender still without a club. (Ruhr24 - in German, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Henry Brownsey
BBC Sport journalist

West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Fulham (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On how his team is shaping up following the international break, Lopetegui said: "We are waiting for the last players. Until this afternoon, we are not going to have all of them. We will evaluate all of them and how they are."

• Summer signing Niclas Fullkrug has "a little problem" sustained on duty with Germany. "Today we are going to see how he is and tomorrow we will make the last decision."

• In more positive news, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola is "OK" and "recovered well," after being substituted at half-time in the loss to Manchester City.

• The international break has been a chance to work with the players, but "unfortunately" a lot were away, so it "wasn't an easy time".

• On new signing Carlos Soler: "He is a good player - a good age. He will help us because he can play in different positions. We've worked with him these past two weeks because he was without a normal pre-season."

• He has mixed feelings about the transfer window: "We did the best that we could. We tried to improve the squad in different positions. At the deadline, we lost James [Ward-Prowse] but we signed Soler. We lost [Nayef] Aguerd and didn't sign a centre-back so that is why we have to look towards the academy players for this position."

• On whether London derbies carry more importance than other games: "We have to face each match with the same importance. They are all going to be difficult matches for us and for the opponent. Right now, our focus and mind is on Fulham - they are a very balanced team, they work with the same coach and have a very clear style. We have to be ready."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news