Saturday sees the first batch of summer preseason friendlies kick off in earnest, and boy is that a welcome development. While the summer offseason is very short these days, it can feel pretty long when the summer transfer window is dull and lacking in activity. Such is the case at West Ham United, who have only made one signing, El Hadji Malick Diouf, thus far.
The silly season has actually been pretty straight-laced so far, and thus, it’s been a boring offseason. So bring on Grasshopper Club, or Grasshopper Zurich, or whatever you wish to refer to them as.
West Ham United at Grasshopper Club FYIs
Competition: Preseason club friendly
West Ham United Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Kickoff time: 2PM GMT, 19 July Saturday
Location: GC Campus AG, Niederhasli, Switzerland
Because while these matches may be just meaningless friendlies, at least they give us something real to talk about, as this transfer window has not given us much.
But hey, kudos to the Club World Cup, for somewhat trying to fill the gap in between the end of last season and the start of friendly season. While the the CWC isn’t the end all, be all, at least it was something to fill the time.
WHUFC Starting XI Prediction at Grasshopper Club
Alphonse Areola — Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Oliver Scarles — James Ward-Prowse, Lewis Orford, Andy Irving — Luis Guilherme, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter