Why Graham Potter's first game as West Ham manager is his most important | OneFootball

Tonight’s FA Cup third-round trip to Aston Villa could prove pivotal

A trip to Aston Villa which could, by objective measure at least, spell the end of West Ham’s hopes for serious success this season does not exactly represent the gentlest of starts to Graham Potter’s reign. There again, after 21 months out of management, it is little surprise the former Chelsea boss cannot wait to dive back in.

It is Premier League form on which Potter will ultimately be judged and the 49-year-old’s task between now and the end of the season will be to deliver enough of an upturn in results and performances to suggest the club have got their choice of David Moyes's successor right at the second time of asking.

Graham Potter at his first press conference

Yui Mok/PA Wire

But with the Hammers not in Europe for the first time in four seasons, nor looking likely to qualify for next term, the FA Cup represents the last opportunity to take something tangible from the campaign, having been thrashed by Liverpool in the third round of the Carabao Cup in September.

That does not, of course, mean Potter is expected to win the trophy, but a cup run would provide a focal point for what might otherwise become a windy first five months in charge, until the summer provides the chance for a proper reset. Moyes himself knew what a tonic cup success could prove, ending West Ham’s 43-year trophy drought with Conference League glory at the end of a thoroughly miserable domestic campaign.

Villa, by evidence of their post-Champions League struggles this term, could probably do without fighting on a third front deep into this season but Potter’s first assignment is still a daunting one, not least because of how little time he has had with his new players.

We've just got to knuckle down and help and prepare and go into the game with a clear frame of mind and try to win

Graham Potter

“We'll do our best to put some ideas across and to make it as simple as possible,” he said at his first press conference on Thursday morning, meeting the media before he had his squad. “There's no time to reinvent the wheel between now and the game. So, I want them to go on to the pitch with a clarity as much as possible.”

He acknowledges, too, that spirits need lifting, this having been a bizarre week for his players as they trained under a manager who, the world and his wife knew, was destined to go.

“It's been tough for them,” Potter said. “It's not nice when this happens, everybody can recognise that. But they're professional, they understand it's part of football as well.

“So, now we've just got to knuckle down and help and prepare and go into the game with a clear frame of mind and try to win.”