Forum | General Discussion

Remember when you were young and had to deal with the fall out from your impromptu 'full on' party, usually at your parents house while they were away or at your Uni accommodation? Having been 'caught on the moment' has it's consequences, in a similar way fans baying for new football players at their clubs can become all mouth and trousers, happy to have a drink and a laugh, but with little or no regard as to who is going to clean up the mess that is left when everyone has buggered off.

West Ham via David Moyes and the board, managed to rescue what was looking to be a dreadful closure of the transfer window by pulling off a string of top quality signings, nowhere near as many as had been hoped for, nevertheless those who were acquired are top draw and capable of walking into the starting line up of all but the most elite of teams.

The problem facing David Moyes, albeit a relatively pleasant one, is how to keep every member of his burgeoning squad happy? Obviously the International break means that most of the new players have only just arrived at the club ahead of Saturday's game against Southampton, so clever micro management will be required.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it", is rather an apt guideline for how to maintain the equilibrium of most 'soccer' teams, although the expression itself originated from American football. Although Hammers are currently 2nd in the Barclays Premier League, as well as being joint top scorers the club's goals conceded tally is a 'car crash' statistically!

Hammers have scored a spectacular 10 goals already this season, matched only by the state owned Manchester City, the comparison ends there though because City have conceded just the ONE goal, Hammers have conceded FIVE in the same amount of games, those extra goals along with silly points dropped, as happened against Palace, can be the difference between a champions league place or having to be in the conference, or loser's cup as it is known, or even NOT qualifying for European competition at all!

Having spent significant sums on players there is an obvious expectancy that said players will be on the team sheet, but that is NOT David Moyes' way. There is a distinct possibility that NONE of the new signings will start the game against the Saints, several will be on the bench, but who might start?

Well, as the forward line has been scoring goals for fun there is little chance that the Hammers manager would want to try and shoe horn new signing Nikola Vladic into the starting line up, he is far more likely to use the new signing as a Mikey Antonio replacement in the latter stages of the game.

As it is the team's defence that has been at fault recently, both Lukasz Fabianski and Craig Dawson will know that their time is up, at least with regards to being in the starting line up for Barclays Premier League games.

Alphonse Areola who already has a vast amount of premier league experience has got to be knocking at he door, he also has the advantage of having trained with the team for a significant period of time already.

Fabianski will probably retain his place, at least for now, but the player who is most likely to 'walk' is Craig Dawson who has been as poor this season as he was superb during the last! The major issue regarding Dawson's replacement Kurt Zouma, is that the centre back has only just returned from International duty with France and will have had just the ONE day's training ahead of what is a very important game. A win will maintain Hammers top four status, a loss or a draw would seriously dampen the club's upward trajectory and hopes of establishing itself as a genuine 'elite' club.

Is it too soon to start Zouma? Or to start Areola? Or indeed to start Vlasic or Krull? Hmmm such nice problems to have, for once! LN

Yesterday West Ham confirmed their squad to compete in the Europa Cup this coming season: Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola; Lukasz Fabianski; David Martin; Darren Randolph Defenders: Vladimir Coufal; Aaron Cresswell; Craig Dawson; Issa Diop; Ryan Fredericks; Arthur Masuaku; Angelo Ogbonna; Kurt Zouma Midfielders: Alex Kral; Mark Noble; Declan Rice; Tomas Soucek Forwards: Michail Antonio; Said Benrahma; Jarrod Bowen; Pablo Fornals; Manuel Lanzini; Nikola Vlasic; Andriy Yarmolenko.

The only senior player omitted from the squad was the stalwart from the Boleyn days, Winston Reid, the Kiwi's captain has never fully recovered from the freak injury sustained while playing against Swansea nearly four years ago. Reid was handed a massive SIX YEAR deal in order to fend off interest from Arsenal and several other Barclays Premier League clubs.

Unfortunately Reid's rehabilitation has never been fully completed and as such he was NEVER going to feature in a David Moyes team, loan spells in the States and at Brentford failed to reignite the players 'elite' career with his wage demands being a huge hurdle for any club looking to take a punt on the 33 year old's fitness.

Word has reached us that failing to find a club for Reid has forced West Ham to offer the centre back a pay off, much as they did for Kevin Nolan back in the day and more recently as they did for Jack Wilshere! Reid has the remainder of this season and A FURTHER 12 MONTHS left on his contract meaning he is scheduled to receive around a further £6,720,000 in wages!

If you factor in Yarmolenko's exorbitant £115,000 per week wages as well, it is clear to see why the club doesn't have a pot to pee in. Reid is due to be offered what we consider to be an extremely generous £2 Million settlement in order to terminate his contract and save the club over £4 Million in future wages.

Harsh lessons will have been learned by the Reid/Wilshere/Yarmolenko experience, never again will the club hand out deals that are so lengthy or so lucrative. Reid was a great servant to the club, but come on Winny, enough is enough, how much money do you need? - Ed

New Hammers signing Nikola Vlasic will wear number 11 for the club, the squad number previously held by Jesse Lingard. Much was made of Hammers interest in bringing in Lingard back to the London Dome following his incredibly successful loan spell during the 2nd half of last season, unfortunately Jesse elected to try and regain his place in the Manchester United team he had been excluded from for the last couple of years.

An admirable attempt, one which fans would expect of any player who has substance and loyalty, however his decision to stay at Old Trafford meant that David Moyes had to move on, and quickly in order to firm up the acquisition of a player with similar qualities.

To that purpose Moyes turned to his plan B, which was Vlasic who he had been monitoring for several months, his signing indicating the probable shift in emphasis the Hammers manager has made regarding the reliance on using just one striker. Even if Michail Antonio doesn't pick up his usual hamstring injury, Moyes has set up his team to deploy a 'multitudinous' strike force that contains several players capable of scoring, particularly on the break.

Opposing teams are terrified of the lightning fast counter attacks that have become part of Hammers game plan, it is very difficult to defend against a three pronged attack, however that attack depends on strength, speed and guile. Vlasic has been brought in to provide the missing 'Lingard element', and although they have entirely different playing styles the end result is often the same.

Jesse Lingard arrived with a point to prove, and Boy did he prove it, Vlasic arrives with a point to prove as well, with Big Sam Allardyce being one of the people he wants to make eat their own words. If Nikola Vlasic does hit the ground running and proves to be a success, then David Moyes might not revisit signing Jesse Lingard until he is available on a free transfer next June.

Moyes would then be able to focus on bringing in a striker in the January window IF there is a need, which there more than certainly will be. The squad Moyes has assembled is superb, getting better and better as time moves on, it is still painfully lacking in depth considering the club's commitments this season, but this will be the last season where Moyes is operating with one hand tied behind his back due to the massive wages of some players incurred before his permanent tenure began.

Moyes has already exceeded most fans expectations, it will be interesting to see how his team progresses as they are released from the shackles enforced on them by previous recruiting errors. There were quite a few fans fearful of the club being involved in a relegation fight, and while that could still happen it is very unlikely given the way the team has started the season.

All eyes will be on Vlasic as he is 'eased' into the first team, some say none will be scrutinisng the player's performances more than a certain Mr Lingard. LN

Now that the transfer window has finally 'slammed' shut, fans of all clubs will be pondering the successes and failures of their transfer strategy, some will be happy, some will not. For those fans who fall into the latter category, Newcastle fans for example, there is always the dreaded out of contract option, a path well trodden by West Ham in the past!

Of course the problem with free agents is that they are generally 'free' for a reason, and that reason is usually greed, lack of ambition or the fact that the player is past it and is looking for one last pay day. Shopping in football's bargain basement can occasionally yield hidden gems, although the gems usually turn out to be 'paste'.

There are a plethora of 'free agents' available, below is a rogue's gallery of the usual suspects, ALL of which should be avoided at all costs. Hammers have done more than their bit in the past to support the Premier League retirement home, now it is time to gaze 'enviously' on, as others fight for scraps!

Thankfully West Ham have moved on from the sceptre of despair which is commensurate with not having concluded 'proper' deals for proper players. Serge Aurier, Javier Pastore and David Luiz, among others, would have been targeted as short term solutions for long term problems.

Not anymore, under David Moyes Hammers have progressed to such an extent that the thought of signing out of contract players is laughable, you could also add ex-Hammers Carlos Tevez and Andy Carroll to the list to make it into a 'Dirty Thirteen'!

Freebies & Past Its-No Thank You! - LN