Category: Squad

Lazy Sunday Afternoon: West Ham’s Shameful Attempts To Get On With Their Neighbours

Oh, Mr Potter what shall we do? We wanted a young dynamic coach, and we ended up with you! The Hammers extend their winless run to eight games in instantly forgettable El Naffico.

For a contest billed as one of the most eagerly anticipated of the season by both sets of fans, this was a spectacularly grim, dull, featureless, and uninteresting affair. The dampest of squibs, where having been thoroughly soaked beforehand, an attempt was made to set off the squib in full sunlight, behind a huge, soundproof wall. It was as if all involved (players and managers) saw the battle for 16th place as an unimportant inconvenience. Paying no heed to the significance of the clash for supporters.

It goes without saying that it has been a dreadful season for both West Ham and Tottenham. It is impossible to deny the evidence of the league table despite any flannel you might hear about injuries or periods of transition. Yet despite this, Tottenham are on the brink of a Europa Cup final – and the allure of Champions League qualification beyond that. They could be excused for regarding Sunday’s game as one of secondary importance – especially in an away game. A second-string team selection clearly underlined that position.

For West Ham, there was no excuse whatsoever and a virtually fully fit squad to choose from. It was a perfect opportunity to end a run of seven winless games while getting one of over on local rivals at the same time. But they offered nothing. With a couple of notable exceptions (in Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka) there was only disinterest and apathy. It was a shameful insult to the many thousands of home fans, to whom a full and frank apology needs to be made by all concerned. The Tottenham players couldn’t have hoped for an easier afternoon allowing Big Ange to leave his more experienced substitutes on the bench.

It’s now eight games (and four points) without a win for Potter’s team. There’s every chance it will be 11 by the end of the season with a failure to hit 40 points. The coach’s personal tally is now a shabby 15 games and 14 points. It’s not just a lack of improvement since his appointment; results are even worse than under a manger who was deemed underperforming enough to get the sack. Isn’t the job of a supposedly top coach to get the best from the resources at his disposal? It is hardly an endorsement of coaching skills if half-decent performances must wait until he has the right type of players assembled. And a complete waste of time to employ such a coach mid-season. Are we really to trust him with the transfer millions in the summer? The man who believed the old-pals act of bringing in the unfit Evan Ferguson as a sole January signing was a wise move. Jordan Hugill Mk 2 more like.

We have written in these columns many times before that under the current ownership, West Ham is a club with no discernible football strategy, beyond the taking of random decisions designed to stroke egos in the Boardroom. It stumbles along from year to year, making arbitrary razmataz appointments and signings, hoping for the best and that the occasional gem pops out from the academy. Fans (or customers) have been seriously alienated and the community connection that one underpinned the great club has long been severed. Who among us believes that when Potter is eventually given the heave-ho, that his replacement will be anything other than short-sighted, expedient, unplanned and unimaginative.

There is no doubt that the current squad has plenty of holes in it. It started with Moyes and his preference for a small squad of players suited to his low-block style of play. One that he allowed to age with no plan for succession. The triumvirate of Sullivan, Lopetegui and Steidten then wasted millions on recruitment without addressing the fundamental structural issues whereby a host of players were past their prime and lacked the pace, power and athleticism now necessary in Premier League football. The squad’s a mess, but too big a mess to sort out in one go.

Many comments overnight have suggested that Bowen and Wan-Bissaka are the only two regular first-teamers worth keeping. I don’t disagree with the sentiment but am afraid we will have to put with some of the others for a little while longer yet.

I’m in two minds about the keeper situation. Areola is up there with the best as a reliable shot stopper but is clearly uncomfortable with the ball at his feet. I’m not particularly a fan of playing out from the keeper and saw a suggestion recently that only very few teams scored more than they conceded as a direct consequence of this tactic. With all the other squad priorities, I wonder where a ball-playing keeper should rank. A younger keeper to replace Fab as number two, and eventually become first choice might be a more reasonable option.

In defence, I see no reason not to keep faith with Todibo. Although there have been concerns with his fitness record while at West Ham, I’m not sure that is why he was substituted yesterday. He looks a decent defender to me. I am less confident about the other central defensive options where Kilman has become as ineffective as Mavropanos of late. His gaffe for the Tottenham goal being as bad as anything the Greek has served up this season. He did appear to play as less of a spectator yesterday, although his newfound aggression mainly manifested itself by fouls on Richarlison. Ironically, the ageing Creswell put in one of the better performances – but he is hardly one for the future.

As for the full backs, Coufal’s best days are well behind him – and he has proved one of the club’s best value for money signings – while Emerson (despite having good technique) gives the impression of someone more interested in topping up their retirement pot. Although Scarles early promise took a hit from several bouts of defensive uncertainty, it is a peculiar management approach to drop him completely from matchday squads. Especially, when you see forgotten men such as Ings and Rodriguez getting a regular seat on the bench.

Midfield is even more of a muddle. There is no player we should be desperate to hang on to. Surely Alvarez has burned his boats after falling out with the last two managers and there is clearly an attitude problem in there somewhere. As nice a guy as Soucek is, I don’t get why some regard him as a West Ham legend. According to an Opta analysis published in March 2025, he is the top jogger (and one of the slowest players) in the entire Premier League. Alongside him as top joggers are Guimaraes, Tielemans, Fernandes and Caicedo – yet each of those players have close to twice the number of touches as big Tom. And therein lies the problem, the game goes on around him with minimal contribution other than the occasional goal.

Paqueta’s future is inextricably tied up with the ongoing spot fixing investigation. Whatever the outcome, he is likley to be leaving in the summer; the only question being whether the club pick up some cash as a transfer fee in the process. I must admit I have always struggled to see him as a Pep Guardiola type of player given his casual attitude to giving away possession – and then pretending he is injured. It will surprise me if he has any suitors in the Premier League. The same goes for all our midfield players unless Moyes is stupid enough to go for Soucek. Soler has not done enough to earn a permanent deal, and Rodriguez will also surely be back off to Spain. There’s a chance that JWP will stick around unless he returns to Southampton in a player-coach role.

The one moment of intrigue on Sunday’s game was Paqueta coming close to tears after being booked by the increasingly fussy refereeing by Michael Oliver. I wonder whether Betway are already scouring through the number of Paqueta not to receive a yellow record bets placed from Brazil.

The biggest hope for a cash windfall in the summer is the sale of Mohammed Kudus to either a Champions League club or the Saudi league. His performances this season must surely have put a dent in the number of clubs willing to stump up the full release clause fee. Hopefully they haven’t been watching too closely or else view his insistence on performing a series of tricks, turns, and showboating before releasing the ball as a West Ham specific frustration. Why he wasn’t replaced by Guilherme in the second half yesterday is another mystery known only to the gaffer.

While a new striker remains a top priority (as it has done since Tony Cottee retired) I would like to see Fullkrug stay on for another season. His wasn’t a great performance against Tottenham and he seemed more interested in drawing a second yellow card challenge from Davies than getting involved in open play. But he has the right attitude for shaking up the dressing room and can play an importnat role as backup striker.

So, there you have it. Not much work needs to be done; other than two central defenders, a left back, three or four midfielders and a striker or two. All for whatever money can be found down the back of the boardroom sofa. The challenge will be in spending all that change wisely. Not on established stars but those with bags of potential. We cannot afford to again blow a huge part of the budget (whatever that turns out to be) on a single player. COYI!

Unpicking West Ham’s Tactical Knot: Is It The Players Or The Plan?

As the stuttering disjointed start to West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui enters its third month we still awaiting signs that the tactical plan and player capabilities are converging.

It is always tempting at the end of a disappointing game of football to channel one’s dissatisfaction towards the performances of individual players. It fuels the fascination for player ratings and the juvenile clickbait reports as to which of this week’s starting eleven had ‘stunk the place out!’

Of course, there are games where individual performances have stood above the rest as match winning or where individuals have let the side down through ill-discipline or poor execution. But generally, the success or otherwise of a team relies on the collective efforts. And at the elite level – especially with the modern trend of obsessive micro coaching – that depends on everyone being aware of their roles and responsibilities and capable of carrying them out within a team dynamic.

The job of the coach is to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of his players – accepting they haven’t all necessarily been hand-picked to meet his specific needs – and deploy them in a manner that maximises their effectiveness as a group. The sum must become greater than the value of the parts if success is to be forthcoming. It can be no use having a theoretical style of play if the players do not collectively understand it or do not have the individual attributes to pull it off.

As things stand, it is apparent that Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham team are a long way short of team comfortable with the style of football they are meant to be serving up. It remains a group of individuals rather than a team. If we are to believe it is a ‘work I progress’, then shouldn’t we be seeing an obvious shape starting to emerge by now? On the evidence so far tactics and formations look all over the place.

It is a possibly unfair comparison, but it brought to mind the star studied squad which managed to get relegated under Glenn Roeder in 2002/3. If you can remember that far back, this was a side that featured the talents of Di Canio, Sinclair, Kanoute, Cole, Carrick and Defoe but which misfired chaotically for most of the season until Sir Trevor instilled a degree of organisation in the final knockings.

It is far too early to speculate that an equivalent outcome might arise, but it does highlight the importance of structure and organisation in making the most of individual excellence.

At the weekend, several pundits had suggested that Lopetegui didn’t yet know his best eleven. That may be true, but the bigger issue is the failure to create an identity and style of play that can be executed on the pitch by the resources available. Can we know the who before we know the what and the how? This was the part of the tactical transition where many understood the need for time and adjustment where a balance was struck between the coach’s dream and the player’s capabilities. Compromises were always going to be needed – but right now progress is looking slow and painful.

Let’s take the tactic of playing out from the back as an example. We have a goalkeeper who was never recruited for his ability with the ball at his feet. The centre back pairing has yet to be settled, the full backs have very different attributes, and the defensive midfield options are lacking in pace, and touch. The upshot is that collectively they find it difficult to break the press resulting in one of two things happening. Either they ultimately play it back to the keeper under pressure who resorts to the time-honoured punt up field, or the ball is switched repeatedly from side to side, losing momentum and the opportunity for rapid counter attacks.

While better movement and positioning can perhaps improve with practice, no amount of coaching can instil pace where it does not already exist. If the plan and the people don’t coincide then one or other must change. Unless a solution is found for moving the ball forward quickly and accurately then creating quality chances in the final third will remain challenging.

The implications of the ponderous build-up are obvious further forward. Creative midfielders get dragged deep into their own half where they can cause no damage, and attacking players, whose strength is running into space, are faced with one or more opponents in their path. Frustration takes hold and they end up down blind alleys or taking hopeful pot shots from distance. That West Ham are top seven for number of shots but bottom six for Expected Goals illustrates the quality of the chances being created.

To conclude that, say, Mohammed Kudus is sulking, or Lucas Paqueta is disinterested in this context is based on flimsy evidence – although it makes for a good headline. It is staggering how many pundits and commentators speak fluent body language these days. The player’s role in most teams is tightly defined with little independent scope to try something different when they are having little success carrying out the coach’s instructions. It must surely lead to tensions and my immediate reaction to Kudus being replaced at half-time was that there had been a dressing room bust up Later reports have supported this version of events although we cannot know if they are true. Are there any supporters who believe that Kudus is being played in the position where we will see the best from him? The interesting thing was that he was replaced by Carlos Soler rather than ‘Jimmy’ Summerville who would have been the natural replacement – and who had been very unfortunate to have been benched in the first place.

Whether it was because of or in spite of the substitutions, the Hammer’s second half showing against Brentford was much improved. Having scored their customary first minute goal – at least we held out longer than Manchester City and Tottenham thanks to the advantage of taking the kick-off – the home side appeared reluctant to press home their early advantage. They would not pick up the pace again until after the West Ham equaliser. In all it was a scrappy, low-quality affair in which the Bees might point to a lengthy injury list in mitigation.

The West Ham highlight of the afternoon was the performance of Aaron Wan-Bissaka who excelled back in a conventional full back role. And proved he is both our best right and left back. Can he be cloned? It was another unexpected choice to introduced Dinos Mavropanos instead of Vladimir Coufal but it was a move that gave the defence a more solid feel.

It was another enigmatic showing from Tomas Soucek. No-one can dislike the big Czech for his attitude and commitment, but he is as much a part of the defensive midfield problem as he is of its solution. However, he has managed to pick up a re-brand during the early season struggles as the old dependable – and while he is popping up with a share of the goals, who can argue with that?

The final game before the international break will see the Hammers hoping to break their London Stadium wipe out against new promoted Ipswich Town. The spirit and determination of the visitors cannot be underestimated and will need to be matched if the first home points are to be put on the board. COYI!

Windows, Breaks, Free Agents, Formations and Squad Lists As West Ham Return To Premier League Action

With the Premier League squad list deadline looming this weekend will there be even more new arrivals at the London Stadium and where are they all going to play?

I have always loved those American blues songs where the singer wakes up one morning to discover his wife has done left him, the dog has died, his truck won’t start, and the house has been repossessed. It is exactly the same sort od sentiments I get whenever we have to put up with yet another international break. It’s now one down and three more to go for the remainder of the season. The next popping up to spoil our enjoyment in just four weeks’ time.

Putting the new season on hold with only three games played is particularly frustrating. Especially in Europe where I have yet to be convinced about the wisdom of creating the Nations League – the Europa Conference League of international competition. But I suppose the authorities needed to find something marketable to promote while the South Americans commence their World Cup qualification campaign, and the Cup of Nations qualifiers proceed in Africa. Sometimes you can’t help feeling there is too much football being played for players and supporters alike.

West Ham went into the first break with 100% records both home and away. Unfortunately, at home that had meant consecutive defeats as Manchester City extended their dominant streak against the Hammers to 16 wins in the last 19 league encounters. Erling Haaland has now scored seven times in five appearances against West Ham. His latest hattrick even lacking the customary penalty.

While City looked in control for most part of the London Stadium contest it was a spirited performance from the home side. A West Ham team intent on making a game of it rather than sitting back and spending 90 minutes without the ball was a palpable relief after the experoences of recent years. There were certainly positive signs that a more entertaining and enterprising brand of football is in the works, even if it is one that is developing at an evolutionary rather than revolutionary pace. If there is one team who are guaranteed to seize on and punish the merest of wayward passes, then it is Pep Guardiola’s side. Although the Hammers came close to drawing level at 2-2 the suspicion was always there that the visitors could up a gear whenever they chose to. Only severe FA sanctions are likely to prevent a fifth straight Premier League title for the Sky Blues.  

Although the main transfer window ‘slammed shut’ several weeks ago it is still possible to squeeze a free agent or two through the sky light in advance of the League’s squad list deadline on Friday. If the rumours are true, this loophole may see further arrivals turning up at the London Stadium to prop up the positions remaining short of cover despite the summer spending spree.

A recent trend with transfer windows has been either to rate them out of ten or to put forward an opinion as to whatever club ‘won’ it. There are, of course, no prizes for winning the window and its success or otherwise will only become clear over time. On paper the summer business at West Ham looks decent as Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui set about reshaping and revamping the small and unbalanced squad left behind by the previous manager. I am in danger of repeating myself, but it still baffles me that pundits and commentators – who are presumably paid handsomely for their laughably superficial opinions – believed that the Scottish manager had left the club in good shape. If it had been in good shape, it wouldn’t have needed the transfer kitty to be spread across ten or more new signings.

The biggest disappointment of the window was the failure to command much in the way of fees for the players seen as surplus to requirements. While the loan departures of Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, James Ward-Prowse and Maxwell Cornet may have helped trim the weekly wage bill, little residual value will remain once a further year has passed on their contracts. Trading players is now a significant factor in determining the revenues on which future recruitment must be based.

Once the dust has fully settled, the greatest concern with the squad is with strikers. Lopetegui’s perseverance so far with Michail Antonio has been a huge surprise. Even at his peak of pace and power, Antonio would never have been first choice for a team following a possession-based philosophy. The alternatives of Niclas Fullkrug (allegedly now out injured) and Danny Ings require a very different level of service from the supporting players. If either is to make a noticeable contribution, they need the wider players (whether it is Jarrod Bown, Mohammed Kudus, or ‘Jimmy’ Summerville) to be deployed narrower rather than stranded out wide. This, in turn, requires the full backs (Aaron Wan-Bissake and Emerson) to offer the width in the attacking half.

An alternate plan would be to replace the idea of an outright striker with a flexible front three of Summerville, Bowen, and Kudus. The advantage would be better use of resouces, rescuing Kudus from a position marooned wide on the left but may result in a loss of focus for attacks. Done well it could be difficult to defend against but would be another transitional challenge for the coaching staff.

The midfield permutations have become ever more complex following the late addition of (Carlos) Soler energy to the equation. It leaves Soler, Lucas Paqueta, Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, and Andy Irvine fighting for three or four starting berths – according on which nominal formation Lopetegui elects to play in any given game or against any given opposition. Perhaps there will be an indication of his thinking when the team is announced for Saturday’s game at Fulham. It is difficult to imagine too much playing time for Soucek and can Paqueta and Soler be accommodated in the same eleven?

It can’t be long before Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo become the preferred centre-back partnership. With only Dinos Mavropanos as cover this is the position where additional free-agent backup is believed to be wanted before the weekend’s squad deadline. The current names in the frame being Joel Matip and Joe Egan.

All in all, the squad that has been assembled should be capable of competing towards the top end of the table. It would be disappointing not to be in the mix for a European place during the final weeks of the season. For it to happen, though, requires the pace of change to quicken and for an effective way to be found to integrate the undoubted attacking talent that the club now has. I remain confident for an exciting and interesting season ahead – at least until the next internation break. COYI!  

West Ham Monday Briefing: New Coach Class, Paqueta’s Cautionary Tale, and Tim’s Smart Recruitment

Out with the old and in with the new at West Ham. But a lot of hard work is needed to freshen up the small and aged squad left behind and prepare them for a very different style of play.

That’s another season fully wrapped up. We now know the full lineup for the 2024/25 Premier League season and which of those clubs will be playing in the new convoluted format of European competition. The latter not being something that will involve West Ham this time around.

The season had ended for the Hammers the previous weekend with a typical Moyesball performance. The ten men behind the ball containment plan failing to make it beyond two minutes and taking all the wind out of Super Sunday’s sails. Manchester City should have been out of sight by the break until a stupendous Mohammed Kudus strike briefly gave the game the impression of a contest. But rather than attempt to capitalise on the hosts sudden jitters, it was back to Plan A for David Moyes, and the outcome became a formality. West Ham once again playing their part as perfectly obliging last-day opponents.

It is acceptable for people to have differing views of Moyes time at West Ham. Anyone is entitled to believe he did a fantastic job, but I imagine that view is skewed significantly by the Europa Conference win. An average league finish of 9th over four seasons is roughly what should be expected for a club of its size. But achieving mediocrity in such a dull and cautious fashion was always the biggest beef.

What I cannot accept, however, are claims that Moyes left the club in a better position than he found it, A quick scan through the squad list should immediately dispel claims that it is in good shape. Having spent in excess of £400 million on player recruitment it is a shambles. It has often been said that Moyes ‘prefers’ to work with a small squad, as if that was ever a reasonable position for a club playing two games per week for large parts of the season. It was negligent, not reasonable. Anyway, we are now able to draw a line under the previous manager’s tenure and need never mention him again.

Julen Lopetegui was finally announced as West Ham’s head coach this week and it already feels like a breath of fresh air is blowing through Rush Green. How long that lasts will depend on the success or otherwise of the massive rebuilding job required in the upcoming transfer windows. The task is to big to fix all the problems in a single window. And it’s not just a case of bringing in the numbers, they also need to be bedded down into a style of play that is the polar opposite of the last four years. If it tkes eight to ten games to do that, then the pressure may be on.

The video released by the club on Lopetegui’s first day was obviously stage-managed for the sake of positivity, but there was a good feel to the relationship between the coach, Tim Steidten and Mark Noble. Maintaining that will be critical in the coming months for squad management, recruitment and bringing youth players into first team consideration.

The Lucas Paqueta situation has surely put a spanner in the works of the summer recruitment plans. Any thoughts of cashing in on a £85 million release clause to fund incoming transfers are now firmly on hold. Although, to be honest, I’ve struggled to understand how his maverick approach to the game would fit within the structure of Pep Guardiola’s keep-ball philosophy.

It is impossible to know how the charges will pan out with the FA. Do they have hard evidence or is it just a case of looking dodgy?  There will need to be more than suspicious circumstances and a slow-motion VAR-style trial of Paqueta’s yellow-cards to justify ending someone’s career. And what are the timescales involved? The Ivan Toney case seemed to drag on for some months and Manchester City have been in the dock for almost 18 months over their 115 charges. If Paqueta is implicated, what was he thinking?

It is ironic that Betway were the whistleblowers in the case. The gambling industry is one of the most immoral and unscrupulous of all businesses and the sooner West Ham break the connection with them the better. Taking bets on throw-ins, corners, and yellow-cards is just asking for trouble.

The summer transfer window officially opens on June 14 but already the rumour mill has been running red-hot. Here is a cut out keep guide to the stories seen so far – I’m sure some have been missed.

We can only speculate on the positions Lopetegui and Stediten see as the priorities in sorting out the current mess. If the intention is possession-based football with a high press, high backline and with width coming from the full-backs then there’s not much to work with. A new striker, a couple of centre-backs, a new right back, and a defensive midfielder as a minimum.

Recruitment is going to have to be smart. It seems highly unlikely the club will be shopping in the £40 – £50 million aisle – certainly not for defenders. Tim is going to have to earn his corn and live up to the pearl-diving reputation.

It will be interesrting to see how the Flynn Downes resolves itself. Most supporters saw a very good player there but the manager who is no longer mentioned just didn’t fancy him. He can only have improved with a year at the top end of the Championship orchestrating play in a passing side – and there is the benefit of qualification as one of the homegrown contingent. While meeting the target of eight homegrown players enables the maximum 25 man squad to be achieved, no benefit is derived from registering a homegrown player if he is unlikely to ever feature e.g. Aaron Cresswell.

It is going to be a fascinating summer at the club with early business essential to ward off those recurring bad dreams whereby the intellectual lightweights of the pundit fraternity – Sutton, Crooks, Collymore and co – are whispering “be careful what you wish for” in my ear. COYI!

How High Can They Fly: What Would Represent A Season Of Success For Gung-Ho Hammers?

As the new Premier League season approaches can Manuel Pellegrini get the best from his array of talented attacking players, or will defensive lapses continue to plague the Hammers?

All of a sudden a new Premier League season is almost upon us.  Just one more week to reach peak optimism before the reality of an opening weekend clash with Champions Manchester City kicks in.

Although you can never be certain how well new players will adapt to the English league, the signings of Sebastien Haller and Pablo Fornals look to be exciting acquisitions; and with the return from injury of Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmalenko there are many good reasons to expect an above average season for the Hammers.  Not that ‘average’ sets a particularly high bar at West Ham where, in 21 years of competing in a 20 team Premier League, the average finishing position lies between 11th and 12th.

Only the most pessimistic supporter will be contemplating involvement in a relegation battle, but just how much higher can those bubbles fly?  In those same 21 seasons, a top ten finish has only been achieved on 7 occasions, with a high-water mark of 5th in 1998/99.

It is difficult to see beyond a third consecutive Manchester City title with Liverpool and Tottenham in their wake.  Perhaps a high-spending Arsenal will be reinvigorated, if they can sort out their defence, but Manchester United and Chelsea are likely to be well off the pace under their rookie, panic measure, ex-player managers.  There is certainly an opportunity for other clubs to take advantage and having a tilt at the lower reaches of the top six – and a gaggle of clubs including Everton, Wolves, Leicester and West Ham might all think that they are in with a shout of a break-out season.

It goes without saying that to win football games you need to outscore the opposition.  Yet there are different approaches in trying to achieve this.  There are too many recent bad memories of bus parking managers preferring to strangle the life out of the game in the hope of snatching a goal in a breakaway or from a set piece.  Manuel Pellegrini’s approach, on the other hand, is looking more and more to be the polar opposite – all out cavalier attacking and fingers crossed that it works out at the back.  It promises to be exciting, but can it be successful given that free-flowing football is the more difficult style to sustain over a long season?

In the past few years, West Ham have saved their best performances for matches against the better sides, while struggling against those set on attrition, spoiling and denying space.  A perfect example was the recent Asia Trophy game in Shanghai where Newcastle put an extra man in midfield and the Hammers created few meaningful chances as a result.  Admittedly, it was only a friendly and there were several key players missing from the Hammer’s lineup, but it is a lingering concern – as is the amount of space that is left vacant in front of the defence.   While it is great to see West Ham give the top teams a run for their money, the season will ultimately be defined by how well they perform against the remainder – that is where the majority of points lie.

Although there is still a week of the transfer week to go, the noises coming out of the club is that there is little cash left to splash.  Maybe there will be last minute surprises if the owners can be persuaded that they have yet to do enough to push beyond their survival comfort zone.  If there is any true ambition, or dreams of nights of European football, then spending just enough to stand still is a misplaced strategy.  Apart from attacking midfielders, the squad remains very vulnerable to injuries in several key areas – notably the fitness of Lukas Fabianski, Fabian Balbuena/ Issa Diop, Declan Rice and Haller.  It is not as if West Ham are strangers to long term injuries.

I prefer to think that West Ham are suspect at defending rather than in defence.  The weaknesses are as much about team shape and cohesion as it is about individual players.  When possession is lost we are slow to reform into a compact shape and thus allow opponents far too much time and space to mount counter-attacks both in central areas and on the flanks – a feature of all three goals conceded to Hertha Berlin during the week .  The defence plays very narrow, relies on a tricky offside trap and with only one defensive midfielder it is no surprise that Fabianski is the busiest keeper in the league.  I wonder if his agent has considered negotiating a productivity bonus – as he won’t be picking up many clean sheet payments?

On paper, the attacking midfield resources available to Pellegrini are awesome.  Individually, it is packed with talent and we can only hope that he has the instruction sheet on how to assemble them together into an effective unit.  I would like to see a lot more width from the midfield and a greater willingness to get behind defences than we have seen in recent years.  Apart from Robert Snodgrass (who is unlikely to be first choice) decent delivery into the box has been in short supply. Relying mainly on the full-backs for width, as a number of other sides do, would only make us more susceptible to the counter attack.

I am expecting great things from Haller leading the line.  He looks to have all of the attributes to do so effectively.  Can he be the player to finally beat Paolo Di Canio’s record of 16 West Ham goals in a Premier League season – or even become the first to reach 20?  I would like to think so, but then again I tipped Arnautovic to do the same last season!  Backup striker remains a big problem and with Javier Hernandez looking to be even more of a spent force (a Mexican has-bean) it may well fall to a rejuvenated Michail Antonio to provide support.

If striker and defensive midfield reinforcements arrive during the next week then I would be delighted.  Although the squad lacks depth it does now include a number of very talented players.  Sadly, the better ones will not stick around for very long if the team doesn’t progress beyond its average mid-table position.  It might be all well and good to pocket £200m in player sales next summer but not if their replacements are the modern day equivalents of Rigobert Song and Titi Camara.

I can see it being a very interesting season.  Lots of entertainment but with the usual frustrations where we fail to compete against the more resolute and uncompromising (physical) opponents.  Somewhere between 5th and 7th would exceed expectations; whereas below 9th would constitute a failure to progress.  Or perhaps this will be the season to put an end to 40 years of hurt; to finally lift another piece of cup silverware.

I am probably, once again, expecting too much!

Can The Hammers Enjoy a Season in the Sun?

A review of the West Ham and the upcoming 2017/ 18 Premier League by Under The Hammer’s Geoff Hopkins.

As we prepare for the start of another Premier League season I find myself in a similar position to the one that heralded the final year of Fat Sam’s reign.   Unfortunately, I don’t believe we have a manager that can deliver in the long term and yet, regardless of circumstances, I always want the team to win every game, and so could take no pleasure from being proved right about the manager’s limitations.  In fact, I would be more than happy for him to prove me wrong by as much as he likes.  The trouble is I see little to suggest that anything has changed in the management and coaching mindset to address the many problems that we witnessed in team performance and organisation last year.

I understand it is a reasonable argument to put forward that Bilic has had one good season in charge and one poor one; and so deserves a third as an opportunity to prove himself; but it leaves everyone in a rather precarious and uncertain situation of a manger in the final year of his contract where safety first will be the order of the day.

Two years ago when West Ham faced Arsenal away on the opening weekend of the season and came away with a stunning 2-0 victory it seemed we had struck gold with a tactically astute manager playing attractive football at the helm at last.  This was quickly followed up with a run of other unexpected wins against top clubs before performances started to gradually fall away despite the emotion generated from the last season at Upton Park.  In a season where the big clubs largely under-performed the Hammers were inspired by the flair and free-kicks of flawed Frenchman Dimitri Payet.  Yet a system and passion that worked well against elite clubs often failed to deliver, at least on a consistent basis, against the lesser teams where the team lacked shape, pace and penetration.  With poor recruitment the following summer and once Payet had downed tools, the underlying cracks in organisation and tactics were revealed for all to see.  It would not be the first time that a manager had done well in his first season built on a predecessor’s foundation but then faded badly.

The general consensus is that West Ham have had a spectacular summer transfer window.  In contrast to last summer, and the bizarre January recruitment, that may well be the case but it seems premature to pat ourselves on the back too enthusiastically just yet.  Let’s wait and see how the new signings perform before getting too carried away.  Does Zabaleta still have the legs and motivation?  Can Hernandez deliver as a regular lone striker starter?  How consistent will Arnautovic be?  Does it make sense for your first choice keeper to be only on loan?  Will Bilic, given his uncertain position, take the risk of blooding any young players?   We can all speculate but only time will tell for sure.  I would like to believe in my heart that we could be competing for a best of the rest seventh but my head says mid-table at best.

As for the squad itself, it looks stronger on paper when compared to how we know the team performed last season.  But a performing team needs to be more than the sum of its parts and in modern football attack and defence must be conducted as a unit and requires organisation, pace, mobility and fitness in addition to the underlying technical skills.  Too often West Ham teams have a disjointed look with the merest hint of cohesion between the constituent parts of the formation. In a Premier League awash with money every team has good technical players and so how those talents are utilised and integrated becomes even more important and is the true measure of coaching.

In goal, Hart is an upgrade (but not a massive one) on Adrian and if the rumours of Adrian wanting out are true then we could be left with a bit of an embarrassing hole between the sticks.

The defence says old, frail and error prone to me unless it is strengthened before the transfer window closes (and not with Kone!).  Reid is a top quality defender but is not without injury concerns.  Ogbonna has a tendency to switch off and allow opponents too much room, Collins is decent as emergency cover but Fonte looks something of a dud, at least in a back four.  It is a case of wait and see as far as Zabaleta is concerned while Cresswell, Masuaku and Byram are all better when going forward than defending.  Will Rice be given a chance?  Maybe, but most likely as a defensive midfielder from the bench.

The squad is packed with midfield players of one type or another but the optimum combination is difficult to identify.  West Ham rarely dominate a match these days and that is a direct consequence of poor ball retention, options and movement, particularly in the midfield areas.

Any team needs to be solid at the centre of midfield where defensive and pressing responsibilities are key.  Obiang is a class act but Noble, bless his claret and blue cotton socks, is too slow in movement and distribution these days while Kouyate, despite his athleticism, lacks the required discipline and is a poor passer of the ball.  Fernandes is sometimes mentioned as an option but, for me, needs a more attacking role that suits his physique and range of passing.  An additional defensive/ holding midfielder would be another at the top of my priority list.

The realistic attacking midfield options are Lanzini (assuming we keep hold of him), Antonio and Arnautovic backed up by Ayew, Fernandes and possibly new signing Haksabanovic.  I suppose there is also Feghouli and Snodgrass until we hear otherwise.  Hopefully Arnautovic can assist Lanzini in the creativity department but can he help out his full-back when required?  Will Antonio get a long run in his preferred and most effective wide right position or does Bilic have different plans for him?  Will Haksabanovic be given a chance and what exactly is Ayew’s position?

The troublesome striker position now has a potential solution with the recruitment of Hernandez.  On the assumption that he will be the main striker playing up front on his own it will be interesting to see how he adapts.  His goals scored per minutes on the pitch record at Manchester United was impressive and came courtesy of some very clinical finishing off the bench; his role at West Ham will be a whole new challenge for him.  At the moment the only back-up is from perennial sick-notes Carroll and Sakho.  Could a Hernandez/ Carroll partnership work?  Possibly in certain circumstances but taking a player out of a fragile midfield would create its own problems.

I don’t expect a season of struggle but I do foresee an unspectacular one with a disjointed team that relies heavily on set pieces for its goals.  I don’t disagree with Bilic that individual errors need to be eliminated but that is by no means the extent, or even the most important, of the shortcomings.

Mentally, I would include West Ham in a group of teams who should be capable of grabbing seventh spot with the help of a good following wind and good fortune with injuries and refereeing decsions; alongside the likes of Everton, Leicester, Southampton, Newcastle and even Palace.  Everton have lost Lukaku and have the distraction of European Thursday night football, Leicester have bought and retained well, Southampton and Palace have new managers inexperienced in English football and Newcastle need to adapt to life back at the top.  There is a chance but do we have the confidence, desire and discipline to take it?  I really hope we give it a go and can show the same commitment as if we were playing Tottenham every week.

In time honoured fashion I will end with my prediction for the final Premier League table season 2017/18:

1          Manchester United
2          Manchester City
3          Tottenham
4          Arsenal
5          Liverpool
6          Chelsea
7          Everton
8          Leicester
9          Southampton
10       Crystal Palace
11       West Ham
12       Newcastle
13       Watford
14       Bournemouth
15       Stoke
16       Swansea
17       West Bromwich Albion
18       Burnley
19       Huddersfield
20       Brighton

West Ham’s Not Yet Settled Squad and the Homegrown Player Dilemma

With the season starting before the transfer window closes, West Ham have a few extra weeks to get their squad in order.

It seems an oddity to me that the transfer window stays open for a further two weeks after the season has started.  It would be far tidier if they slammed it shut on the eve of the new season so that all of our predictions could be based on the precise knowledge of which players are in each particular team’s squad.  A last minute sensational rabbit out of the hat signing or a bewildering ‘too good an offer to refuse’ departure could well define the season for some clubs, including our own.

As it is, clubs have until the day after the window closes on 31 August to name their twenty five man squads, which, of course, must include eight homegrown players; or to put it another way can only have seventeen foreign players.  The make-up of the actual West Ham squad for the start of the 2017/18 remains pure speculation but, for the sake of argument, I will use that currently listed on Wikipedia (as at 7 August 2017) with the names of the homegrown players underlined:

Reid, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Feghouli, Kouyaté, Carroll, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Adrián, Obiang, Sakho, Noble, Hernández, Collins, Ayew, Ogbonna, Byram, Fonte, Hart, Masuaku, Antonio, Fernandes, Arnautović and Hakšabanović

The Homegrown rule is an odd one as for a player to be qualify he must, regardless of nationality have been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday.  According to my interpretation of the rule the above squad (which, by the way, only includes twenty four players) has just seven that qualify as homegrown.  More interestingly, many supporters preferred starting eleven would probably include just one or two homegrown players.

We can reasonably expect there to be changes to the squad before the end of the month with the potential (fingers crossed) departures of Feghouli and Snodgrass, leaving a few extra places available in a squad that remains thin in all key areas; striker, central midfield and centre back.  There have been a few potential recruits linked (Gray, Wilshire) that would qualify as homegrown but the majority of the names mentioned continue to be johnny foreigners. Any shortfall would need to be made up by including at least one qualifying academy player in the named squad, even though technically any number of players under twenty one can be included in the squad without actually being part of the named twenty five.

The signing of Sead Hakšabanović was a surprise addition to the ranks this week and has all the hallmarks of a Tony Henry signing.  Hakšabanović has only recently turned eighteen but has almost fifty appearances under his belt in the top tier of the Swedish league, as well as being a full international for Montenegro.  An attacking midfielder he could, in theory, provide backup to Manuel Lanzini but time will tell whether his youth will once again prove a barrier to selection by manager Slaven Bilic.

Just a few days to go before the 26th Premier League season gets underway.  For the first time there will be three south coast clubs in the competition (it is probably the first time ever in the top flight).  There will be five London clubs, three from the Midlands, five from the North West, one each from Wales and the North East plus two others (Watford and Huddersfield).  In total only nine of the twenty teams are from north of Watford (Professor Google assures me that Swansea is slightly south of Watford) and so the need to travel well to cold and desolate northern wastelands is not as acute as it has been in previous seasons.

For amusement only, here is a selection of cumulative all-time statistics from West Ham’s previous twenty one seasons in the Premier League.

10th in Number of Victories (265; 1st = Manchester United, 604)
3rd in Number of Defeats (332; Everton, 336)
8th in Number of Draws (209; Everton, 277)
10th in Goals Scored (964; Manchester United, 1856)
4th in Goals Conceded (1004; Tottenham, 1231)
12th in Number of Own Goals (32; Everton, 47)
6th in Number of Red Cards (69; Everton, 86)
7th in Number of Yellow Cards (1321; Chelsea, 1536)
10th in Number of Clean Sheets (216; Manchester United, 418)
1st in Number of Penalties Saved (13)
2nd in Clearances Off The Line (63; Sunderland, 66)

Sharing The Transfer Window Pain

Much ado about nothing in the first week of the January transfer window.

Transfer WindowIt promises much but the January transfer window is generally an anti-climax, although that does not stop the speculation industry going into overdrive in tempting you to visit their websites with an enticing story about the latest 24 year old goal scoring sensation linked with a move to the London Stadium. Like the Transfer Deadline Day of old the January window is dominated by desperate measures of clubs eager to avoid a relegation battle or to boost their flagging chances of promotion or European qualification.

For me, the winter deadline is characterised by pointless loan deals for the likes of Ilan, Mido, Pogatetz, Chamakh, Diego Tristan, Benni McCarthy and Roger ‘The Relegator’ Johnson. It has rarely led to the recruitment of quality players with the possible exclusion of Dean Ashton in 2006 and Demba Ba in 2011.

West Ham go into the window with a very unbalanced squad that includes some gaping holes of which the most notable are at right back, striker and, probably, central midfield. The failings of the summer transfer deals which focused on quantity rather than quality to support an expected but unrealised Europa League campaign is there for all to see. Summer recruits Zaza, Tore and Calleri are all likely to be out of the door and could soon be followed by Feghouli if in-the-know gossip is to be believed; then there is the question of Dimitri Payet about whom there is a growing consensus that he is unhappy, disinterested and wants away.  If that really is the case is it worth holding on to him?

If West Ham were a few points better off then maybe we could just write the season off as a bad job and address the squad problems in the summer when there is more time and more options. But with the relegation places not too far away then doing nothing in January would be a very foolish strategy despite the fact that getting good value in the window is rare. We were unable to improve the team in the summer so what are the chances of doing so now?

The difficulty arising from our situation is that clubs know we are desperate and so will be inflating prices. We are most likely to overpay for players who are expedient stopgaps and not part of a project to build an ever improving side. The forward players who have been most regularly linked, Defore, Long and Snodgrass, are all in the wrong age profile for the longer term even if they might prove useful for the survival imperative. Scott Hogan is in the right age group but is relatively inexperienced while Moussa Dembélé is likely to be unavailable and destined for greater things than east London.

Something has to be done about the right back position which has been a blind spot at West Ham over many years. The approach reminds me of Sunday morning park football where you put the lads who are no good anywhere else at full back. Maybe Sam Byram will make a injury free return but we need backup and it should be someone other than Carl Jenkinson again.

We are a week into the window and nothing has happened apart from some outgoing loans and the transfer of Lewis Page to Charlton. Usually nothing much happens until the last few days anyway but let’s hope that this time the money is used wisely.

Ponchos for Goalposts

English footballers missing in action.

Tevez and MascheranoWhen West Ham took the field in the EFL Cup Tie against Accrington Stanley there were no British players in the starting eleven. By the end of the game a total of 14 players had been used of whom only Michail Antonio was British. I have to admit that I am not sure whether West Ham have started with an all non-British line-up in the past but it seems unlikely. However, as long ago as 1999 Chelsea had become the first English side to field an all foreign starting eleven.

I was also surprised a few weeks ago when I happened to come across the line-ups for the Championship fixture between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest to discover that only 8 of the 27 players featuring in the game were English. It has become accepted that Premier League squads were dominated by overseas players but it hadn’t occurred to me that the same was the case in the second tier. So I decided to take a closer look.

There had been the occasional foreign player appearing up in English football ever since Max Seeburg from Germany turned out for Tottenham in 1908.  After a spat with Arsenal over the signing of foreigners and obviously worried by a growing trend the FA introduced a 2 year residency rule in 1931 which served to stem the onrushing tide at the time. Even so, foreign players appeared in each of the FA Cup finals between 1951 and 1956 with one of these, Bert Trautmann becoming Footballer of the Year in 1956.

In 1978 a European Community ruling declared that football associations could not deny access to players based solely on nationality and, as a result, the effective 47 year ban in England was lifted. The arrival of players such as Ardiles and Villa at Tottenham spearheaded the new foreign invasion. At the time various quotas on non-British players applied but these have long since disappeared. When Arsenal won the league in 1989 they were the last team not to use a single foreign player (for the picky, yes the squad did include David O’Leary and Niall Quinn; both from the Republic of Ireland).

As far as I know, the first foreign player to play for West Ham was Clyde Best who I assume qualified to play under the two year residency rule before getting a first start in 1968. An attempt to sign Israel skipper Mordecai Spiegler after the 1970 World Cup was thwarted by the red tape still in play at the time. After the 1978 ruling West Ham were relatively slow on the uptake with the first overseas player, Francois Van der Elst, not clearing customs until January 1982. By then everyone was in on the act and even second division Charlton had signed former European footballer of the year Allan Simonsen from Barcelona.  In 2013, West Ham had become the first English club to have fielded players of 50 nationalities; the majority of whom, it has to be said, barely made an impression.

I spent some time going through squad lists to see how teams in the Premier League and Championship currently shape up with regard to foreign players. For the purposes of the analysis I have used the squads listed on Wikipedia. Players are categorised on their FIFA registration and I have treated players from the Republic of Ireland as foreigners (possibly harsh seeing as any English player who has seen Riverdance more than once is probably eligible to represent the Republic).

In the Premier League, 60% of players are foreign. Watford are top recruiter with 84% of their squad hailing from overseas. At the other end of the spectrum, Hull and West Brom have only 25% foreign representatives. The top 6 clubs for foreign players are Watford (84%), Manchester City (81%), Chelsea (76%), Arsenal (72%), West Ham (70%) and Sunderland (69%). If you were to exclude players fro the other Home nations the percentage of English players overall drops to 35%. The top 6 origins of Premier League players are England, Spain, France, Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Netherlands.

In the Championship, 40% of players are foreign. Newcastle and Reading are joint top with 62% followed by Brighton (54%), Fulham (54%), Brentford (52%) and Nottingham Forest (51%). Two more teams have at least 50% of overseas players.  Rotherham brings up the rear with a mere 16% foreign contingent.

There has been a long running debate about the impact of the foreign invasion on the fortunes of the national side. In that we have just the single 1966 tournament victory to show for a period both before and after the invasion then you could make a case that it is neutral. However, it does raise the question of what happens to all the kids who dream of becoming a professional footballer. Many of us had that dream at one time living out the fantasy over the park, even without the lure of the vast financial rewards of today, but at least for some the dream came true making it into teams that were largely home grown. Sure squads are much larger now but my instinct is that if we looked at game time the proportion for foreign players will be even higher (in the 6 Premier League games to date 78% of West Ham starters have been foreign players) than that for the squad as a whole. I will delve deeper into this at another time.

With all the recent revelations about shady deals between managers and agents let’s hope this is not a contributing factor to the skewed make up of English club squads.  Was there some truth to Ravel Morrison’s claim as to why he was banished to the reserves at West Ham?

The Premier League is a worldwide phenomenon which has been enriched by foreign players; there is no getting away from the fact that the most exciting and flair players are from overseas. The multi-million dollar question is why this is the case? Are the local lads not up to the challenge? Would they rather chase Pokemon than a football? Have we not sorted out grass roots youth development despite Sir Trev’s best efforts? On those occasions that I have seen kids football they all seem to have mastered the Cruyf turn and the Rabana but not the basics.  For now, the mystery of the disappearing English footballer deepens.

 

All The Young Dudes

Is there any place for optimism from within the youth ranks?

Embed from Getty Images

In a similar way that North Korean leaders insist on fancy titles such as ‘Peerless Leader’ or ‘Great Sun of the Nation’ our club has adopted as its own the moniker of the ‘Academy of Football’. While initially this was attributed by the football press in recognition of West Ham’s proficiency in coaching young players it has in recent year become more of a self-proclamation.

The development of Moore, Hurst, Peters and Brooking set the standard back in the 1960s but there then followed, with the odd exception, a long unproductive period for the youth system until the arrival, over the course of just a few years, of (Rio) Ferdinand, Lampard Jr, Cole, Carrick, Defoe and Johnson. That the potential of the golden generation was dismally squandered is a painful tale of woe that we won’t go into here.

Awash with pre-season optimism there was much chatter that part of West Ham’s glorious future; along with a new stadium, a reinforced squad and European football was a new crop of youngsters that would soon be knocking on the first team door. As the early season has developed most of these dreams have turned out to be like beautifully wrapped Christmas presents that turn out to be very disappointing once opened. But can our young players give us real hope for the future?

In an article I read before the season started Slaven Bilic described the difficulty of introducing young players in the modern Premier League. My interpretation of what he was saying is that it was a risk not worth taking in a scenario where a few bad results can have fans (and owners) clamouring for your head; just like we have now!  For young players, the more normal route is to spend time out on loan to get experience and see how they cope. Ferdinand, Lampard, Carrick and Defoe all had successful loan spells whereas Cole and Johnson went straight into the West Ham first team.

At the present time we 8 youngsters out on loan; Burke, Samuelsen, Cullen, Knoyle, Page, Belic, Dobson and Hendrie. Of these only Burke (who is now out injured following a hernia operation), Cullen and Page are getting regular first team football and of these only Burke is playing with a Championship side. Arguably the more exciting prospects (at least in terms of expectation) are still at the club compridsing Oxford, Martinez, Browne and Quina.

The Reece Oxford situation is very strange. An impressive debut against Arsenal over a year ago followed by a more difficult game at home to Leicester and he has only started one Premier League game since. The midweek EFL cup tie would seem to have been the perfect opportunity to give him another opportunity but instead a central defensive position was given to midfielder Nordtveit. It is easy to conclude that speculation about his future is playing a part in selection and my instinct is that he won’t remain a West Ham player for the long term.

Toni Martinez appears from the statistics to be a natural goalscorer something which typically our own academy has found it difficult to produce (Cottee being the last with Defoe having been snatched from Charlton) and how we could do with one of those in the first team at the moment. On the evidence to date it is difficult to see how Martinez and Fletcher would be worse striker choices than Zaza and Calleri.

Domingos Quina came to West Ham as a very highly rated and sought after player. Two substitute appearances against Domzale and nothing since; to the point that he doesn’t appear in any squad on the Official West Ham website. Marcus Browne also had a Europa Cup cameo but has not been considered since including being overlooked for the EFL Cup; and showing his disappointment on Twitter. Martin Samuelsen looks an extremely talented individual but, for whatever reason, he has not been getting regular game time on loan; either at Peterboro last year or at Blackburn, so far, this season.

When West Ham won the FA Youth Cup in 1999 only Bywater, Cole and Carrick went on to have top level careers. Many young players drop by the wayside and there is no reason to suspect that the current crop will be any different. There is nothing better as a supporter than witnessing a youth team player breakthrough into the first team. Obviously they need to have the talent but it would be disappointing if chances were not given simply because the manager is risk averse.  I would like to believe that there are 3 or 4 regular first teamers in the current youth setup.

Another title that has been given to successive North Korean leaders is ‘Great Defender’. Now that would be a novelty this season; but maybe we already have one sitting on the bench.