It has become a lot more important to get good results in pre-season over the past few years. 

West Ham play their third match of pre-season and their second match of the PL Summer Series this evening as we face David Moyes’ Everton in Chicago.

It’s been hard to judge pre-season so far with a lot of changes and substitutions. However, a convincing 3-1 win over Grasshoppers and a promising second-half performance in a 2-1 loss against Manchester United means the Hammers fanbase is pretty calm.

Pre-season, especially for clubs like West Ham used to be full of matches like Grasshoppers, however, the last few seasons it has completely changed. Due to the finances involved, the Hammers now almost always go to a country like America or China to play fellow Premier League teams.

Not only is it a way to promote the club and get fans in other countries, it is also the perfect preparation for the season ahead. There is no better way to get ready for the season than to play the exact teams were going to be playing. So, its important to perform well.

Tonight’s game against Everton and Sunday’s match against Bournemouth are the perfect matches to see where were at after already getting a couple of matches under our belts.

While it’s early, players still aren’t fully fit, some tactics are yet to be implemented and the transfer window is still open, and things could still change, we are expected to be in around those clubs in the table next season, so it will give us a better idea of where we need to improve.