Although the transfer window was a considerable success for West Ham, there are still those who are bemoaning the lack of arrivals 'up top' to replace Gianluca Scamacca and act as back up to big Mikey Antonio and Frankenstein hairline Danny Ings.
From a distance it seemed as if Tim Steidten was going to pull a South American 'bunny' from the hat, indeed he nearly succeeded in getting not one but two deals over the line, however when it came to pulling the trigger the 'phantom' of dual ownership of players reared it's ugly head meaning it became a big NO NO from the Irons to complete any of the deals on offer.
Having had its fingers well and truly incinerated by the Tevez and Mascherano transfers and the resulting fall out, the powers that be, David Sullivan in particular would have choked on his nice glass of vintage claret at the very whiff of 'shared ownership'!
As David Moyes is unofficially known as the 'new striker killer' it came as no surprise when the window opened and closed without any further strikers being added, IF the club could have 'bounced' Danny Ings and/or Maxwell Cornet things might have been different, but neither player wanted to leave which may have been influenced by the handsome wage packet both players receive at West Ham.
There is also the opinion that IF a new striker HAD been brought in, then 'Moysie' would have got him to play 'out of position', so making do with what he has was probably the best option. The club will almost certainly announce the signing of Moyes's 'love child'Jesse Lingard early next week and he too will be added to the 'false' front line, some clubs do play a false number nine, but NOT an entire front line!
Early results seem to confirm that the team CAN cope with just the one striker, but what happens when the inevitable injury or suspension kicks in? The answer is that another 'battering ram' will be employed, probably in the form of Divin Mubamba. This approach may well pay dividends but will the 'subtifuge' be able to last an entire season, surely teams will 'suss' out what is going on and create their own game plan to counter 'Moyesball'?
Well, yes and no, because Hammers do NOT fit into the general 'template' of Premier League football and as such can represent a big issue for teams who are used to possession football. Last season Moyes tried to have his team 'play attacking football' and the experiment failed miserably, almost ending in relegation.
The reason Moyes changed things up was due to fan pressure and the fact that other teams had learned to counter Hammers counter, the squad he had available was simply not able to recreate the swashbuckling counter attack team that finished sixth and seventh in the previous consecutive years.
This season it is all change and a bit of 'back to the future', Moyes now DEFINITELY HAS THE SQUAD to carry out guerilla attacks after sustaining long term pressure, he has sufficient outlets to hit ANY team on the break and why not? It will be interesting to see where in the table Hammers are after say a dozen games, with the squad that is available Moyes should definitely be looking at a comfortable top half finish and possibly a sneaky sixth or seventh place although the club will be playing Thursday Sunday, but most of the players are used to that anyway as this is Hammers THIRD consecutive season in Europe.
A new striker would have been nice, but for once it seems the club was buying for the club during the window and not just to please the fans.....long may it continue! - Ed
