West Ham ended their pre-season campaign with an embarrassing defeat, and Bayer Leverkusen couldn’t resist rubbing salt into the wounds.
The German club trolled their English opponents, asking ‘Are we massive now?’, after thumping the Hammers 4-0 at the BayArena.
West Ham have not had the best summer, with their results mixed on the pitch, while things have been a bit of a disaster so far off it.
The mood in east London was high after being crowned Europa Conference League champions in June, but some of the bubbles have burst ahead of the new Premier League campaign with things in disarray behind the scenes.
Selling their outstanding player and captain Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105million was brilliant business by the club, but they have yet to spend a single penny on new signings.
They have also resigned themselves to losing big money on flopped striker Gianluca Scamacca, who is set for a cut-price transfer back to Italy with Atalanta just one year after his heralded arrival for £35.5million.
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A reported tug-of-war between David Moyes and new technical director Tim Steidten over transfers has led to raised tensions behind the scenes, with reports the German could depart just weeks after his appointment, while it is also suggested Moyes’ job is in danger.
And so West Ham aren’t in the best of places with just a week to go until the start of the new season, and their preparations were brought to a disappointing end with a heavy drubbing in Germany.
West Ham were 3-0 down after 40 minutes at the BayArena as a Jonas Hofmann free-kick and a brace from summer signing Victor Boniface gave the hosts a healthy lead.
The Premier League visitors couldn’t respond after the break as Robert Andrich - back from a broken foot - made it 4-0 in the 69th minute to wrap up the win.
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To be fair to West Ham, Moyes did ring the changes throughout the match, as is the norm in pre-season games.
But it was hardly a performance that would have inspired much confidence ahead of the new campaign, where Moyes’ men will be looking to improve on last season’s finish as they avoided relegation by just four points.
And the Hammers faithful’s mood wouldn’t have improved after seeing Bayer’s social media admin’s ruthless trolling.
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