Forum | General Discussion

Michail Antonio's hamstrings seem to be some of the most widely scrutinised parts of the human anatomy since the attention given to Jane Russell's cleavage during her appearance in Howard Hughes's 1943 movie The Outlaw. Having dispensed with the services of Jordan Hugill, Albon Ajeti and the great white elephant, Sebastien Haller, West Ham always knew they would be on a sticky wicket with regards to strikers for this season, the hope was that the team could 'muddle through'.

Inevitably the worst has come to the worst and Hammers find themselves woefully short up front, Andriy Yarmolenko's injury, picked up in the FA Cup tie against Manchester United, was the icing on the 'negative cake'! Cue a whole raft of "I told you so" comments and general condemnation.

Are things really that bad? To observers from Europe, West Ham are perceived to be a BIG club, with too much money to spend! Really, that is how the club is seen, any team that can call upon the services of the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen as part of their offense are deemed to be well stocked indeed.

Yes of course it would have been ideal if another forward could have magically appeared, but too many times in the past the result of a last minute smoke and mirrors deals is usually the arrival of an ageing has been looking for a final pay day.

With the talent David Moyes has at his disposal, and using the knowledge he has acquired in over 500 Premier League games, Moyes should be able to guide a path through the stormy seas ahead and look to really rebuild in the summer, even if it means the club missing out on a european slot.

Make no mistake, David Moyes's West Ham United team are still a work in progress, but they ARE United, and they are definitely progressing! - Ed

One by one potential 'emergency' strikers are disappearing from the short list compiled by West Ham, the latest to become unavailable is ex-Chelsea striker Diego Costa who is in negotiations over a two year deal to sign for Brazilian team Palmeiras.

Costa obviously has a few quid in the bank, and commendably has chosen to play for the club he supported as a boy by returning to his hometown of Sao Paulo after 15 years in Europe. The 32-year old left Atletico Madrid in January after having had his contract canceled by mutual consent.

Costa's 'generosity' is not quite as altruistic as it sounds though, because Palmeiras have had to offer him a two year deal worth around £2.6Million per year netto, or tax paid at source, for us mere mortals! Perhaps Costa had no intention of coming to the London Stadium, although his representatives WERE contacted by West Ham with regards to a short term loan until the end of the season. There were rumours that he was seeking an astonishing £300,000 per week to play in the Barclays Premier League once more, but those figures are surel well wide of the mark.

Palmeiras are paying Costa close on to £100,000 per week, big money for the South American leagues, so obviously they rate him highly, but surely Hammers could have made a short term loan appealing to a player who knows London well due to the time he spent here playing for Chelsea.

As things stand, Hammers go in to Monday evening's game against relegation battler's Sheffield United with only a 'fatigued' Michail Antonio, if he is available, as a striker. Irrespective of who is to blame, it seems inconceivable that David Moyes doesn't have some kind of 'cunning' plan hatched to overcome what is an enormous issue.

What will become known as the "Pellegrini Profligacy Period", or PPP, is going to hurt the club for some considerable time. Having lost around £20 Million by selling Sebastien Haller to Ajax on the cheap, the Irons are now actively trying to offload ex-golden boy Felipe Anderson for an equally catastrophic £20 Million loss.

Somewhere, lurking in the background, there are a lot of "told you so" conversations going on, it is extremely unlikely that the 'fiscal boat' will ever get pushed as far out ever again, at least until the owners sell up, or bring in huge additional investment by share issues to hedge fund operatives.

No strikers generally results in no goals, even 'miracle man' Moyes is going to be hard pressed to get out of this one, unfortunately the club's opportunity for it's best finish in years, possibly it's best finish ever, is slipping away, or fading away, to be more apt. - Ed

Tuesday evening's hard fought, but ultimately unsuccessful, FA Cup 5th round cup tie against Manchester United unfortunately highlighted West Ham United's paucity of strikers, with Big Mich Antonio 'rested' and his 'replacement' Andriy Yarmolenko looking like a fish out of water as he tried to lead the line. The Ukraine international endured a torrid time before leaving the field with ligament injuries that could see him side lined for the rest of the season.

The Odubeko 'situation' has already received too much media attention as far as we are concerned, so we won't be adding our two penneth worth. The young man, and he is a very young man, just wasn't up to the task, perhaps the occasion or the location got to him, either way what is done etc.

It is fairly safe to say that the 'down to the bare bones expression, much used by ex-Hammers boss Harry Redknapp, is totally applicable to the forwards situation and is most definitely a case of NOT crying wolf! Of course, hind sight is a wonderful thing, so it is easy to blame David Moyes and the board for not recruiting during the last window.

Moyes wanted to keep his powder dry and target players he actually wanted, as opposed to 'options' offered to him via David Sullivan's cronies, sadly the gamble hasn't paid off, so what's to be done? Just as the board performed a U turn with regards to Moyes being appointed as the club's permanent manager, which was entirely the correct course of action, the need for another U turn has become paramount. This time it involves going back on the decision to NOT bring over priced over age players to the club, at least in the short term.

Needs must, and West Ham absolutely have to bring in an additional striker whether they originally wanted to or not, and to that purpose, step forward Diego Costa. The London Stadium would surely be rather low on Costa's 'ideal destination' list, but a deal until the end of the season would put him right in the shop window, because despite Hammers recent travails, the club is still being referred to as 'high flying' West Ham, with all the associated media attention that an 'elite' club receives.

There are 15 fixtures left for West Ham to negotiate a way in to European competition, having been knocked out the FA Cup last night, league position is only way it can happen, so how much would it cost to bring Diego Costa to West Ham, that is assuming he can be convinced to sign up with Moyes's ethos?

Even if the club were forced to pay £300,000 per week for 15 weeks, the cost would be £4.5 Million. It should be remembered that final Barclays Premier League positions are rewarded by an extra £2 Million per place above the drop zone, consequently an outlay of £4.5 Million in wages could be offset by the gaining of two extra places.

Although signing up a highly paid mercenary goes completely against every thing David Moyes stands for, in this instance he might just have to change his mind, at least until the season's end. - Ed
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