Muddled transfer strategy

[TCCANARY 263]

It seems that clubs don''t handle the transfer windows very well, this is from todays Football365 about West Ham, the last line is very good.Only three Premier League teams scored more goals than the Hammers

last season, yet they had the worst defence in the top eight; Watford

and West Brom conceded fewer goals.

‘Given these issues, and given that Enner Valencia was the only

first-team forward who departed, why were eight of West Ham’s summer

signings attacking players? And why, when James Tomkins was allowed to

leave for Crystal Palace, did the club only sign a left-back and

right-back?’

So when Bilic says – after his team conceded another four goals

against supposedly inferior opposition – that “it happens so many times

since the start of the season – too many times”, we cannot help but

think that you had fair warning, fella, and you chose to do nothing

about it. Were the Hammers so obsessed with buying all the fancy

cushions and pelmets for their lovely new home that they forgot that

they would need a fridge and a washing machine?

[YorkshirePudding 0]

''Were the Hammers so obsessed with buying all the fancy cushions and pelmets for their lovely new home that they forgot that they would need a fridge and a washing machine?''

Some fans didn''t even have seats, let alone cushions

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

As we survey the quality midfielders we''ve got who can''t even get into our matchday squad, while we''re stretched extremely thin up front, it''s nice to know we''re not the only ones....

[AJ 1,218]

To be fair at least we know that Norwich did attempt to sign targets, we just missed out.

Seems weird to miss out on McCormack a striker and buy Pritchard an attacker instead, but I guess long-term he''s actually a better prospect as he''s a lot, lot younger! I would imagine a lot of this was linked tothe fact we expected at least one of Brady or Olsson to depart, and possibly Naismith as well - and in a way that hindered our in-comings.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

in West hams defence, they already had what looked like a solid backbone to their team.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

they sorted a new left back out, masuaku who has looked steady but by ram and whoever else has played right back so antonio can play further forward has disappointed hence Arbeloa has been brought in and will make his debut on Wednesday. Winston Reid and angelo ogbonna are proven, solid defenders and kouyate is a good dm but I''d agree letting Tomkins leave now looks a bit silly.

[TCCANARY 263]

[quote] user="Tettey''s Jig" in West hams defence, they already had what looked like a solid backbone to their team.[/quote]

That ''solid backbome'' was the worst defence in the top eight last season.

[AJ 1,218]

Antonio looks a beast this season I must say

[If wed only kept Howie.. 3]

I assume that they are thinking that Reece Oxford will step up this season (considering Man City and Chelsea were interested in him - they might be right).

If only West Ham had a manager who knew a little bit more about defending, a manager that had played in that position hundreds of times at the top level, a manager who had at least 40 international caps... oh wait..

[Bill 1,788]

It''s Character Forming  - As we survey the quality midfielders we''ve got who can''t even get into our matchday squad, while we''re stretched extremely thin up front, it''s nice to know we''re not the only ones...

I think muddled thinking might be the problem.Currently only three clubs in Chapionship have scored more than us, we are second. The club at the top have, in fact, scored less than us.Maybe the strategy was to have players who could score but not necessarily as forwards. Perhaps that was the way we would play.... seems to be working. Despite the meaningless bollox about formations players will move around the pitch as the game dictates (it is not table football) so goals will therefore not come from forwards only.As I said,t seems to be working, perhaps those running and coaching the players know something some on here don''t.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Funny really, you look at West Ham with their shiny new stadium, and talk of them finishing top 6, and so far they seem to be doing dreadfully. Football is so unpredictable, and that''s why I can''t wait for us to pip Newcastle to the league and get back to where we belong in time for a 25th anniversary repeat of when we were (almost) the original Leicester 😉

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

Yes maybe they do know more than me. For example, maybe they have a magic wand that can stop Jerome and Oliveira getting injured or suspended at the same time. Unfortunately I don''t think so.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

But hey, we could always try a false 9 approach if that happens . Oh, hold on a second...

Not so much muddled thinking as clueless thinking by some posters , it seems to me...

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

AJ wrote:

''''Seems weird to miss out on McCormack a striker and buy Pritchard an attacker instead, but I guess long-term he''s actually a better prospect as he''s a lot, lot younger! I would imagine a lot of this was linked tothe fact we expected at least one of Brady or Olsson to depart, and possibly Naismith as well - and in a way that hindered our in-comings.''''

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My guess would be that we seized the opportunity to buy Pritchard while we could with a view to selling Naismith/Brady later in the window and freeing up further funds for a striker.. obviously that never happened which restricted us in buying forwards.

[Bill 1,788]

It''s Character Forming -Yes maybe they do know more than me. For example, maybe they have a magic wand that can stop Jerome and Oliveira getting injured or suspended at the same time. Unfortunately I don''t think so.Completely missing the point you seem only to want to dig deeper. The point that was being made was that we may be setting out to get goals from other players rather than the designated ''striker'' (we seem to have done ok so far).The other point about knowing more is that the manager and coaching staff WILL know more than any of us not maybe but will, so to bleat away about how many strikers there are is absurd given you don''t know how they are setting out to win games.

ps as to the mumbo jumbo about a false No 9, what is that ? Anything like a false leg or teeth, perhaps?

[chicken 0]

I actually think we have a relatively balanced squad.

Strikers - Jerome, Lafferty, Oliviera, Morris and Naismith if needed.

Two players relatively(note relatively) proven at this level as leading men. Two players that can play number 10. And an up and coming youngster - almost ideal. Just lacking in the really proven beyond Jerome.

As for why sign Pritchard - in a way, I think he was a bit of a panic buy.

I suspect that someone may have been close to the door, or pushing for it and rather than lose a potentially great replacement to another team we jumped in and signed him. AN certainly suggested it at the time in interviews. Just goes to show - sometimes we do buy in before we sell others . . . .

As it stands, wasn''t a bad idea. With Jarvis injured and Olsson and Brady both having injuries already this season. Cover has most certainly been welcome out wide.

When you start looking at ages, it may also be another reason as to why we went for more depth out wide.

Canos is 19, the Murphy''s are 21, Pritchard 23, Brady 24, Jarvis 30.

Those are our wide players at the moment. So really, you have three players there that you can call experienced in Pritchard, Brady and Jarvis. The other three are still learning their trade - but are learning very quickly I would say.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

[quote user="chicken"]I actually think we have a relatively balanced squad. Strikers - Jerome, Lafferty, Oliviera, Morris and Naismith if needed. Two players relatively(note relatively) proven at this level as leading men. Two players that can play number 10. And an up and coming youngster - almost ideal. Just lacking in the really proven beyond Jerome. As for why sign Pritchard - in a way, I think he was a bit of a panic buy. I suspect that someone may have been close to the door, or pushing for it and rather than lose a potentially great replacement to another team we jumped in and signed him. AN certainly suggested it at the time in interviews. Just goes to show - sometimes we do buy in before we sell others . . . . As it stands, wasn''t a bad idea. With Jarvis injured and Olsson and Brady both having injuries already this season. Cover has most certainly been welcome out wide. When you start looking at ages, it may also be another reason as to why we went for more depth out wide. Canos is 19, the Murphy''s are 21, Pritchard 23, Brady 24, Jarvis 30. Those are our wide players at the moment. So really, you have three players there that you can call experienced in Pritchard, Brady and Jarvis. The other three are still learning their trade - but are learning very quickly I would say.[/quote]

 

Yeah on paper it''s good Chicken, and except for the striking position I''m happy with the squad.  The problem up front is that AN has showed he wasn''t willing, when Jerome was injured, to start either Lafferty or Morris, instead trying Naismith in a false 9 approach which produced our worst display of the season.  So unless his view changes, if both Jerome and Oliveira are both unavailable at any time for the rest of the season, which could easily happen, then we have a problem up front.

 

Obviously we''re looking to our midfield to produce a lot of goals, but that doesn''t alter the fact that our formation works well only when we have a player like Jerome up front for those midfielders to play off.  So my main concern for this season is the risk that we do lose both those strikers for a spell.

 

This shouldn''t really be news to anyone, given that AN has made it clear he wanted to bring in another striker. 

 

I can understand how we''ve ended up where we are - bidding for McCormack, and having to make a split-second decision on Pritchard at a time when it looked very likely we''d end up selling a player like Brady or Olsson for a chunky fee which would give us the money to get in another expensive striker.  That was a gamble and time will tell whether it pays off.  But it''s clear it leaves us weak in a crucial position.

 

Last season my big worry at this stage was the CB position, and unfortunately failing to strengthen turned out to be the crucial mistake in the summer transfer window, for reasons that have been dissected at length.  This season, my concern is about the striker position.  We''re better off than last season because then the problem was our starting CB pairing simply wasn''t good enough.  This season I think Jerome is clearly good enough and hopefully Oliveira gives us the backup/competition for that position - he''s done well in this league before. 

 

It would be a big plus if AN could man-manage Lafferty to the point where Lafferty is available, in his eyes, as a genuine third-choice behind Jerome/Oliveira.  And/or it would be good to bring on Morris to the point where he can feature in the manager''s game plans.  But no sign of either yet.