Forum | General Discussion

Despite all the doom sayers (including us!) Andy Carroll is due to have a half hour run out in the third match of Hammers Austrian tour, it comes too early for him to feature against Rubin Kazan in the second of the pre-season friendlies, but louche rumours of a 'feeling' in his groin seem to have been 'erected' by the press and cognoscenti , and appear generally unfounded as the big geordie looks to begin a season for the first time in his adult career with the potential to start without an injury! Yes, the first time! Archive information clearly shows that Big Andy has always had at least a 'niggle' at the start of every season as a full professional, and usually something much more severe, as West Ham fans are only to aware. But the painstaking rehabilitation process that the medical team, under the direction of Slaven Billic, put in place means that Carroll can actually start a campaign without an injury 'Sword of Damocles' hanging over him, that is not to say he has suddenly become superman and impervious to injury, however the club should benefit from a revitalised front man who has for once NOT been rushed back ahead of time, the mantle of being the most expensive british player weighed heavily on Carroll following his high profile transfer meaning he was expected to justify the , at the time, insane transfer fee he commanded, after all, it wasn't he who set his price. The same situation continued following Carroll's transfer to West Ham, big money, massive expectations from a player who had never been truly fit for three years!
It is a maybe, but if Carroll is well supported by Fletcher, newly signed from Manchester Utd and others, we may finally see the Andy Carroll that he was always supposed to be. The best header of the ball there is in Europe, and possibly the World.
It might seem simplistic, but West Ham, in Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll, for what ever reason have two of the best players in the world in their roles, they will probably both be in the Hammers starting line up for when the Barclays Premier League season begins, so there are again reasons to be cheerful. - Ed
Hammers line up: Adrian, Antonio, Nordvelt, Burke, Cresswell, Kouyate, Feghouli, Quina, Noble ( c ), Tore, Valencia.
Subs: Randolph, Spiegel, Rice, Page, Obiang, Browne, Cullen, Samuelsen, Makashi, Fletcher, Martinez

A spirited and rewarding Hammers performance for the first 85 minutes which saw them lead 2-0 courtesey of a goal by Mark Noble in the first half wonderfully set up by Martin Samuelsen, and a super header by ex-Manchester United starlet Ashley Fletcher in the second. Unfortunately two goals were conceded in the last minutes by Rafael Spiegel who had only come on to replace Randolph in the last twenty minutes, it wasn't entirely his fault, especially for the first goal, but it spoilt what had been an impressive display. All in all it was a good work out, and Slaven Billic will have taken heart from some very promising performances by the players who were either from the academy or newly signed.
What five things have we learned from the match?
(1) Samuelsen cannot be far off his first team debut, such was the quality of his play.
(2) Feghouli looks the business
(3) Fletcher might just be the 20 goal a season that West Ham are looking for
(4) Byram is a bit of a loose canon
(5) Mikael Antonio is definitely NOT a bona fide full back
There are reasons to be cheerful seeing the crop of youngsters and new signings on display, if Slaven Billic can 'weld' some of them in to the first team similarly to how Alex Ferguson introduced Becks, Scholes and Giggs, West Ham could have an incredibly exciting mobile team. Of course getting the balance right is vital, and with matches away to Chelsea and Manchester City in the first three Barclays Premier League fixtures there will be some testing times. - Ed

The list of strikers that West Ham United have been linked with seems to grow daily, and the list of rejections by players targeted is equally as long! Bacca, Batshuayi, Benteke, Lacazette and any number of other high profile players have all refused to sign up to Slaven Billic's vision, which leaves the club in an award position. Perhaps on reflection the much vaunted hunt for a 'marquee' signing has back fired somewhat, the de-stabalising effect of such a public hunt has already had it's impact with the strop Diafra Sakho has had by handing in his transfer request, with Enner Valencia potentially on his way out to Swansea or Lazio and Andy Carroll having picked up his usual injury that will prevent him starting the season the cupboard is bare up front.
Having been knocked back by European based players and clubs on so many occasions recently, the Hammers hierarchy have shifted their emphasis towards South America. Now everyone knows that David Sullivan, co-owner and majority shareholder of West Ham, loves a good South American! Manuel Lanzini being a classic example of how bargains can be had. Admittedly Lanzini was plying his trade in the middle east and was therefore off the radar of many clubs.
According to Brazilian media outlet Esporte the latest striker West Ham are being linked with is 22 year old Argentinian Jonathan Calleri, he will leave Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado and join for a one year loan subject to completing his medical. It is not all sweetness and light however, It is believed Calleri wanted to join up with manager and compatriot Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla but West Ham offered more money. Calleri played alongside Carlos Tevez at Boca Juniors in 2015 and looks likely to follow in his footsteps. Their report says the Deportivo Maldonado forward was wanted by the likes of Inter Milan and Sevilla, but after speaking to Tevez, who also made the move from a Brazilian side to West Ham, Calleri was persuaded to join Slaven Billic.
Earlier in the summer, co-owner David Gold said he's willing to spend £25m to £30m on a quality forward, AC Milan star Carlos Bacca looked to be one of the most likely candidates, but he seems to be holding out for a club that can offer him Champions League football. He told Spanish newspaper AS: "Playing in the Champions League is my dream and I work every day for that.I wanted to play in the Champions League with Milan because I came here to do that, but unfortunately we did not get that step, It is one of the issues that we are talking about with Milan, we're not in Europe and I want to play the Champions League."
Although anything can and often does happen in the mad football transfer world, it appears that the Bacca deal is dead in the water, and who knows?, Hammers might have dodged a bullet!
None of these five Colombian strikers to head to the Premier League in the past excelled despite obvious potential, the most memorable and recent was of course Radamel Falcao, who after seven successive double figure seasons scoring 34 or more in four of the final five , managed just 15 top flight starts and five goals across campaigns on loan at first Manchester United and then Chelsea.
Colombian strikers don’t traditionally settle swiftly in the Premier League the pattern commenced over 20 years ago when Faustino Asprilla joined a Newcastle side top of the table and appeared to unsettle them , they lost four of his first six starts and never recovered, while he signed off that initial half term with three goals in 14 outings.
Juan Pablo Angel struggled to justify Aston Villa’s decision to break their transfer record for him in 2001, firing once in the league in his opening six months and 13 times in the next two complete seasons. He did get better to stick around for six years and depart on 44 strikes in 175 games, but he never delivered on his fee.
The same was true of Hugo Rodallega, bought by Wigan for £4.5 million in 2009. His four-and-a-half years in the north west yielded 24 goals in 112 league matches. Hamilton Ricard at Middlesbrough was the best of the bunch, albeit benefitting from a slimmer fee (£2 million) and still netting only 33 times in 115 league contests across the top two tiers. Indeed, in addition to being spread across a 20 year period, the problems of Colombian attacking talents adapting to the Premier League even seems to affect those who operate on the flanks, Chelsea spent £23.3 million on Juan Cuadrado in February 2015 and started him four times, while Victor Ibarbo managed just four cameos for Watford in 2015/16.
The worrying aspect for Hammers fans is that the need to panic purchase could see the club paying over the odds for players who are only slightly better or on a par to those who were available before all the transfer shenanigans began, the moral of the story being " careless spiels sink deals!" - Ed