Forum | General Discussion

Although Hammers squad is still 'sketchy' in some areas, in others there are an abundance of players, particularly wing players. Blessed with the services available of Authur Masuaku, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Manu Lanzini and new signing Said Benrahma, David Moyes is spoiled for choice, he can also call upon the services of Nathan Holland who has recently returned to full fitness from a serious hamstring injury sustained whist out on loan last season.

Moyes' proliferation of exciting and energetic young players unfortunately means that long serving Hammers Andriy Yarmolenko and Robert Snodgrass, both approaching the last year of their contracts, are surplus to requirements, and given that Yarmolenko receives a massive £115,000 per week, the Ukrainian International will probably be the first out of the door during the fast approaching January transfer window.

Snodgrass represents a slightly different conundrum, he has only made a brief cameo appearance in the Barclays Premier League this term and his opportunities of starting a match are probably zero to none, however he does possess a sweet left foot and a never say die spirit, and as such is a very useful back up player for David Moyes.

The issue with 'Snoddy' is that at his age he needs to be playing football as he approaches the twilight of his career, and whist retaining his services would not be fiscally punitive, the player himself might feel it is time to move on as he must know how limited his future game time at the London Stadium will be.

Having had a rocky start to his Hammers tenure culminating with him being sent out on loan to Aston Villa who were then in the Championship, on his return from his loan spell Snodgrass fought his way back in to the first team with a commitment and endeavour that was much appreciated by David Moyes during his first stint as Hammers manager.

At 33 years of age Snodgrass still has a few miles left on the clock but surely must be looking towards a possible return to his boyhood club Celtic, indeed there was a deal in the offing but David Moyes chose to retain his compatriot for at least the first part of the season, a decision that was made BEFORE the last minute arrival of Said Benrahma.

Andriy Yarmolenko has just turned 31 years of age, he has been at the London Stadium since the beginning of the 2018 season, unfortunately he has spent a considerable amount of his time recovering from a series of injuries, consequently he has only made 37 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals in the process.

'Yarmo' is a player who can win a game with a stroke of his magic left foot, indeed it can be argued that without his goals, particularly the one that earned three points away to Chelsea, West Ham could have been relegated! He is not short of suitors and if a deal can be done it would suit all parties for the likeable Ukrainian to move on, he most definitely needs to play to ensure his place in the Ukraine national team.

Realistically, West Ham do not have sufficient resources to pay a player £115,000 per week to bench warm with the occasional cameo appearance, and while 'Yarmo' has been used in emergencies his ability justifies being in the starting line up of a good team, unfortunately his chances of game time at the London Stadium are diminishing by the minute.

Both Snoddy and Yarmo have never shirked a shift, and as such will be fondly remembered by fans, but it is time to move on now, it's not just this duo who are considering the future, captain Mark Noble is now finally in a position where he can relinquish his duties to the 'younger' charges available, not that he wants to retire just yet, but his contract does run out at the season's end and is unlikely to be renewed as such, however it is almost a given that he will return to the club in some form of a coaching capacity or other, although he might want to take some 'family' time out before launching in to the next phase of his career.

It is common knowledge that 'Nobs' very sensibly invested much of his earnings in various property portfolios and as such is set up very comfortably for the future, so any role he took at the club would be entirely of his own of his volition and not financially driven. We wish all of them the very best of luck as the curtain begins to close on their illustrious careers. - Ed

Having successfully navigated a very tricky opening sequence of Barclay Premier League fixtures, Hammers manager David Moyes now has to anxiously await the return of all his International players from their respective countries of allegiance. West Ham have suffered disproportionately with regards to players picking up long term injuries while on International duty in the past, and it is hoped with a combination of better communication and individually tailored fitness programmes that the risk of injuries is mitigated as much as is humanly possible.

Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Darren Randolph, Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Andriy Yarmolenko conclude the UEFA Nations League group stage, while Fabian Balbuena continues his 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and Said Benrahma and Sebastien Haller are involved in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. Arthur Masuaku was initially called-up by DR Congo for home and away ties with Angola in Group D, but will now not be joining up with his national team.

Having five first team starters going away on International duty, as well as three other match day substitutes, is a matter of pride for the players and the club, but the caveat of potential injuries does rear it's ugly head. On the one hand fans want to see their best players performing on the International stage, however the fall out as a result of players picking up injuries can be far and wide, and in some cases devastating!

The International break does give Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna welcome time in order to overcome their respective injuries, which is good, however fingers will be crossed that the bulk of the players return injury free and ready to take on where they left off.

The next two fixtures, against Sheffield and Villa, were supposed to be part of the 'easy' phase following the 'dreaded' beginning of the season fixtures that many thought would see the Irons propping up the Barclays Premier League, but such is the nature of this unique topsy turvy season that anything can happen, the Fulham match being a case in hand.

Grinding results out against determined 'lower' placed clubs is just as important as lowing away 'elite' clubs, you can't have one without the other if continued steady progress is to be maintained this season. There may never be such a good chance of doing really well, the expensively assembled squad at David Moyes' disposal, albeit only recently influenced by Moyes himself, was guilty of seriously underperforming last season and need the intervention of Moyes to avoid the catastrophe of relegation.

Moyes will doubtless use his time working with the players who have not gone away, but he will have one eye scanning the news of his player's international fixtures, it should be remembered that Fabian Balbuena had around three hours preparation the last time he returned from South America.

Let's hope everyone gets back healthy and fit! - Ed