West Ham: Ollie Scarles sees stock rise as Graham Potter makes effort with exciting new generation

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Evening Standard

·10. März 2025

West Ham: Ollie Scarles sees stock rise as Graham Potter makes effort with exciting new generation

Graham Potter has turned to West Ham’s academy as he gets to grips with the playing squad

Out of the cups and with hauling themselves up to a respectable league position all they have left to play for, the remainder of this campaign serves effectively as an extended pre-season for West Ham.

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The next two-and-a-bit months are about ensuring they do not finish were they currently sit (16th place), but mostly about Graham Potter getting to grips with his squad: what he’s got, how to use it, and what he still needs.

A glance back through the Potter playbook deems it no surprise that he has made a concerted effort to promote youth in his first couple of months at the club.

There is a good chance 19-year-old Ollie Scarles will be trusted to start at left wing-back when the Hammers host Newcastle at the London Stadium tonight, while Kaelan Casey (20) and Lewis Orford (19) have decent odds of being named on the bench.

For Scarles, 10 of his 11 appearances for West Ham at senior level have come this season, and Potter’s arrival following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui has been particularly conducive to the teenager’s integration into the first team on a regular basis.

Scarles is an extremely versatile player but has seen his stocks rise considerably in recent weeks since Potter has deployed him at left wing-back. He has featured in all eight of Potter’s matches in charge, impressing on his first domestic start when West Ham were knocked out of the FA Cup at Villa Park in Potter’s very first match.

The first two Premier League starts of his career have come in the club’s last two matches, wins over Arsenal and Leicester City which have both produced clean-sheets to be proud of. The close attention Scarles showed to the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber down Arsenal's right side earned rave reviews for a diligent individual performance. Among Scarles's more ardent fans that day was Potter.

Asked for a word on Scarles, whose selection meant Euro 2020 winner Emerson was only on the bench, Potter insisted: “I need more than a word. Amazing. That’s some performance.

“It’s a big thank-you to the academy, because that type of player is [rare]. And he’s a really good character. Obviously, I’m saying a lot now but I need to calm it down because he’s still young and has a lot to do.

“But he’s got the temperament to be really [good]. There’s a lot to look forward to.” Potter, often unflappable, was understandably gushing in his praise of a player there is a tremendous amount of belief in, among staff in the academy at West Ham.

Graham Potter has given youth a chance since arriving at West Ham

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The same can be said of Londoners Casey and Orford, who have also threatened to breach the first team squad on a more consistent basis this season, especially since Potter took charge.

This is the third season in which former West Ham season ticket-holder Casey has played minutes for the Hammers at senior level, with the centre-back a key player for the Under-21s and having impressed Potter with his composure and decision-making in training since he came in.

Casey was on West Ham’s books as young as five years old. Although the highly-rated defender’s only appearance this season came under Lopetegui, he has made the bench for five of Potter’s eight games.

Some reports suggest Potter was keen to block a loan away from the club for Casey in January, while the iffy performances of Konstantinos Mavropanos and the fact 35-year-old left-back Aaron Cresswell has been starting in Potter’s back three surely imply there might be an opening for Casey in the back-line if he continues to assert himself while training at Rush Green.

This has already been a breakout season for midfielder Orford, who only turned 19 a few weeks ago. Also having joined West Ham’s youth system at five, Orford was handed his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace in January and also featured in the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.

And besides Orford, who big things are expected of, West Ham also have 21-year-old midfielder Freddie Potts and 20-year-old midfielder George Earthy making names for themselves on loan at Portsmouth and Bristol City, respectively.

One to watch: Lewis Orford

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The ‘Academy of Football’ is a nickname for the youth system still promoted by a club seen for decades as one which produces exceptional young talent and offers a platform for those starlets to perform. Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole were deemed good enough so old enough — all debuting for the Hammers aged 17. Declan Rice was 18.

There ought to be no equatable pressure on Scarles, Orford or Casey to carve out for themselves quite such illustrious careers, but Potter is right to offer them these early opportunities to impress.

An exciting generation is breaking through, as FA Youth Cup glory in 2022/23 served to demonstrate. Scarles, in particular, is showing they can be trusted to come to the fore.