West Ham take on bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium on Saturday and Graham Potter has been given a helping hand to prepare for one of their biggest threats.
All the headlines for the Premier League clash between the Hammers and Spurs will centre around Mohammed Kudus and the two directors’ boxes.
Kudus returns to West Ham after his controversial – and prior to the summer unthinkable – £54.5m move to Tottenham.
The Ghanaian has agitated Hammers fans with his comments and revelations about his actions since leaving for West Ham’s biggest rivals behind Millwall.
West Ham boss Graham Potter refused to take the Kudus bait ahead of Spurs or mention the attacker by name or offer any pleasantries about the former Hammer.
Kudus and owners in spotlight for West Ham vs Spurs but don’t forget new stars
Eyes – and cameras – will also be trained on the directors’ boxes at the London Stadium with majority owner David Sullivan under fire from fans, who are planning a series of protests.
Meanwhile the family of Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis are expected to make a rare appearance following the departure of Daniel Levy.
Potter will want his team to focus on matters on the pitch, though, as he looks to maintain momentum from the brilliant 3-0 victory at Forest last time out.
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Spurs come to east London off the back of being booed by their own fans in a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.
West Ham looked a completely different animal with new signing Mateus Fernandes in the side at Forest.
But Tottenham have a number of new arrivals who could make their debuts against West Ham too.
Before the window closed, West Ham signed defender Igor Julio on loan from Brighton.
Igor is best known by Hammers fans as being the man Jarrod Bowen left for dead to win them the club’s first trophy in 43 years back in 2023.
Hammers fans were disappointed with the club’s lack of business on deadline day.
But the muscle-bound Brazilian has all the makings of a West Ham fan favourite and has been implored to get stuck into a certain Mr Kudus if he gets on at any stage.
Spurs coach spills beans on new star’s role against West Ham
Tottenham have signed some quality players, though, with Dutch playmaker Xavi Simons joining in a £51m move and French striker Randal Kolo Muani on a season-long loan from PSG.
Potter told the press he knows what the Tottenham game means to West Ham fans.
Big bragging rights are at stake and these London derbies can often be decided by fine margins.
So every little detail counts.
And Potter may have been given a leg up on Thomas Frank’s tactics for the match – thanks to a video emerging out of the Tottenham camp.
A Spurs coach has been overheard revealing details about a new star’s role against West Ham.
It gives more than a glimpse into Tottenham’s potential game plan.
Make no mistake, Tottenham new boy Simons is a classy player and will be one – if not the one – to watch if Potter’s side want to win the game.
Simons is also extremely versatile, capable of playing on both wings, as an attacking midfielder or number 10 and even a second striker.
But a video taken of Spurs training may have let the cat out of the bag on Frank’s gameplan for West Ham.
Video footage, which you can watch below, shows Tottenham coach Matt Wells running a very specific drill which shows Simons being deployed centrally as the main playmaker.
The video shows Simons dropping deeper to pick the ball up, before turning and driving to conduct attacks.
Potter gets big leg-up on Tottenham’s tactics and plan for Simons
Frank is also giving Simons freedom to essentially play a floating role against West Ham with Wells being heard telling the Dutchman: “Go create, do whatever you want” as he receives the ball and turns.
This is absolute gold dust for Potter and West Ham’s management.
If this is how Frank is going to deploy Simons, the Hammers can be prepared.
Potter will want one of his midfielders, or possibly a forward dropping in depending on how deep Simons does come to collect the ball, to get tight on the 22-year-old so that he cannot turn and orchestrate attacks.
Tottenham have dangerous wingers and for everything said about Kudus, West Ham know how dangerous his pace and dribbling can be when he is on his game.
So the last thing the Irons want is for Simons being allowed to turn and dictate play, picking out those wingers.
It remains to be seen whether Potter sticks with the back four which did so well at Forest.
Many Hammers fans fear he may revert to his preferred five with wingbacks.
That would allow the extra midfielder to be all over Simons like a rash. But if they get it wrong and the ex RB Leipzig star is able to turn then West Ham’s wingbacks could be in trouble.
It promises to be one of the keys to who will come out on top in this game.
Potter can at least prepare the team accordingly now thanks to this nugget from behind enemy lines.