Having met Slaven Bilic at Wembley on the night before Croatia played England, I liked him a lot and tried to follow his subsequent career
Years ago, when Slav was thinking about what he wanted to do when he gave up playing, he studied what other coaches did on the training pitch.
This morning I was told that Slav spent a week with Arsene Wenger, watching how he worked with his squad.
Slav thought: They play the right way, lovely possession football with quick passing, that’s how I want my team to play.
He admires Arsene enormously, so today is a big moment for the new West Ham manager.
Having seen Arsenal’s smooth improvement in pre-season, and how comprehensively they outplayed a rather jet-lagged Chelsea in the Community Shield, I realised that Arsenal are equipped to annihilate West Ham today.
That’s why I said yesterday that Arsenal could win 4-0 or 5-0. In 18 years of blogging, and 30 years of journalism, I’ve never said that about any game, let alone written it.
The West Ham team today will not include Carl Jenkinson because the terms of his contract preclude him playing against his parent club.
The Hammers team is likely to be: Adriane in goal with Tomkins, Reed, Ogbonna and Cresswell at the back.
Their midfield might be Mark Noble and Kouyate with Reece Oxford, a highly-rated 16-year old defender who was born in Edmonton.
Zarate and Payet will play just behind with the speedy, tenacious Sakho up front.
Dimitri Payet, 28, racked up seven goals and 21 assists for Marseilles last season.
Marseilles coach Marcello Bielsa really wanted the West Ham job and it was between him and Bilic.
On the first day of the French season yesterday, Bielsa sensationally quit his job after Marseilles lost 1-0 to Caen.