Since his arrival at the London Stadium for the second time, David Moyes has had a chance to run the rule over the players available to him, from the first team to the youth set ups, and one glaringly obvious stance is that many do not measure up to his standards.
Several youth players have been sent out on loan, earmarked for the future, but several 'high profile' youngsters have been 'let go' or moved on for little or no money in order to create space for new arrivals.
Prolific U 23 goal scorer Anthony Scully was allowed to loin Lincoln City, Martin Samuelsen signed for Hull City, Joe Powell to Burton Albion and Dan Potts signed for Luton Town. Four young players that there were high hopes for, alas it was not to be for them and others like Sead Haksabanovic. Were they just not good enough or does Moyes demand more than just potential?
The reality is that the once famous academy has been starved of funds for a long while, partly due to David Sullivan's 'obsession' regarding the paltry settlements clubs are due as compensation when a club 'steals in' and grabs one of their assets that they have nurtured for years!
The thing is the same rule applies for everyone, so for every Hammers youngster lost there tends to be a quid pro quo, Declan Rice and Nathan Holland are prime examples of 'snapping up' other club's youth players, from Chelsea and from Everton in their cases.
Moyes' underlying plan seems to be to start at the beginning and try to get a balanced squad operating on all levels, rather than the 'flair' that his predecessor Manuel Pellegrini nurtured. West Ham United may be the 18th biggest club in the World, but the club's inability to generate income by wheeling and dealing it's youth players is one of the reasons the squad is so imbalanced.
Most other clubs, including the so called 'elite' clubs, manage to sell at least one player a season at a vast profit, the funds from which they then use for other player acquisitions, Hammers haven't ever done that in recent memory, it is a vital element of the way a modern football club should be run. The club has squandered huge amounts of money in the past on has beens or the perpetually injured looking for a final pay day, until that ethos changes West Ham United will not move forward, the danger is how far backwards the club slides before a radical rethink? - Ed
Comments
Oxford V Barcodes
Don't know if any of you watched Nathan Holland on Tues playing for Oxford but I thought he had quite a tidy game and MarcusBrown played well- yet another player WHU let go, difference is that he has signed on a permanent deal for 1 one million pounds originally, have a look at this game, and think how much he is worth now? and if you should watch it reflect on Diagana, Cullen, and Coventry cos I think the same thing will be happening to them at the end of the season. Unless we go down off course and then they will all be recalled, together with Potts, Powell, Scully, and Haller, Anderson Lanzini, Mazawaku, Balbuena, Diop and Rice all leaving making a nice few bob for the owners together with the parachute payment I think that's worth £120 million and then they will sell the club, I can definitely see this as the boards strategy. This club is nothing but a business to them, makes you wonder if this their aim anyway. If you haven't seen this game which is well worth a watch wait till the end and you will see the goal of the season.
Please don't tell me while
Please don't tell me while Pellegrini was in charge he wasn't looking on thinking...fck it what is he doing, why not do XYZ...
Nah, bollox, i'll just do exactly the same and we'll get relegated...Blind Freddie could see the issues...but he says get rid of the youth on loan and keep the deadwood and....ah, Kev's free right now...get him in...he'll get them going...yeah right, my ar5e...