West Ham might have offered little on the pitch during their Premier League Asia Trophy trip to China with one goal and two defeats to show from their two games.
The Hammers started brightly in Nanjing before toiling in the second half against Manchester City but were simply off the pace against Newcastle in the sweltering heat and humidity of Shanghai.
Prior to the that, the first run out of the summer came in Austria where the Hammers defeated SCR Altach 3-2 in a topsy turvy game that proved to be a far more stern test than was initially imagined.
But one thing that will certainly please manager Manuel Pellegrini and also Hammers fans is something that the manager saw coming way back in February when the team headed to Marbella for a mid-season training camp.
Having been dumped out of the FA Cup by AFC Wimbledon, the Hammers had some time on their hands so Pellegrini whisked the first team squad off to southern Spain for five days, taking in tow with him this pre-season's breakout star - Ben Johnson.
Johnson would make his senior debut for West Ham later that month when he was thrown in at the deep end away at eventual champions Manchester City but put in a very assured display at left back with both Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku injured.
The defender had only turned 19 a month previously but Pellegrini had been keeping an eye on his excellent performances with the Hammers U23s throughout the campaign, drafting him into senior training on a handful of occasions before going for it and taking him to Marbella.
Johnson wouldn't make another senior appearance for the Hammers in 2018/19 but he had already done enough to impress the Chilean and within another month of his debut, signed a new long-term contract at the club until 2022.
The right back continued to turn out for the U23s though not as often as he was around the senior squad more and more and the youngsters suffered as they were relegated from PL2 Division One.
Whether Johnson would continue to progress enough came this summer when it was time to head off to Switzerland for a pre-season training camp - and the teenager was included.
He played very well at left back against Altach thanks to another Cresswell injury which kept the senior man on the sidelines and Johnson took advantage. On the day of the Altach match, the 23-man squad for the Premier League Asia Trophy was announced.
The likes of Jordan Hugill, Nathan Holland and Marcus Browne missed out, but Johnson didn't and he was on the plane to Far East.
He started at left back once again and Man City for the second time in his fledgling career and again coped very well up against a talented City youngster in Adrian Mernabe and then the far more established Leroy Sane.
He was then given a run out in his more favoured position of right back against Newcastle and made a big difference as he got forward at will, sprayed a number of crossfield passes to pull the Toon from side to side and the Hammers improved.
Johnson is still a teenager and still has some reckless abandon in him on occasions but one thing he certainly doesn't lack is confidence in his defensive ability.
It really isn't a stretch to say that Johnson could well be pushing for a backup left back spot for the first team squad this season and over take Crsweell who has been under whelming for the past two seasons. Arthur Masuaku is likely to be the number one for this season but we all know he can go through peaks and troughs with his form.
Johnson has stated his case, now he needs to keep on progressing. You suspect Pellegrini, who saw all this coming six months ago, will give him the chance to do that.