As we quickly approach the January transfer window, West Ham are reported to have their sights on Darren Bent. But would the out-of-favour Aston Villa striker actually be a good signing for the Hammers?
Proven goalscorer
Bent’s obvious attraction is his proven ability to score goals in the Premier League. Over the course of a season in the top flight, Bent invariably breaks into double figures and has proven himself capable of bagging more than 20 league goals in one campaign too.
It is no secret that West Ham are lacking the kind of player who can score at least 15 goals in a Premier League season. Carlton Cole, Andy Carroll and Modibo Maiga all appear to be falling considerably short of that target – a reasonable one for a top flight forward – with only four goals between them in the Hammers’ 17 league games this season.
When Bent first transferred to Villa from Sunderland for in January 2011, he scored nine goals in 16 games. If you consider what the results would have been with Bent’s goals deducted from the final score of Villa’s games from his debut against Man City until the end of that season, Bent’s contribution was worth nine points to the team – perhaps more if you also take into account the assist he chipped in with.
With those points and Bent’s goals deducted from Villa’s goal difference for 2010/2011, the West Midlands club would have only avoided relegation from the Premier League that season thanks to a goal difference of one. These are, of course, a bunch of ifs, buts and maybes that cannot be taken too seriously. They do, however, display the importance of Darren Bent’s goalscoring ability. He scored vital goals for Aston Villa that season and was instrumental in ensuring their safety. West Ham may be in need of a similar service before this campaign is over.
Fox in the box
Bent could fit into Sam Allardyce’s tactics insofar as he operates chiefly inside the opposing 18-yard box, an area that Big Sam is renowned for having his sides bombard with lofted balls in the belief that opponents are always more vulnerable when the ball is in that area of the pitch.
Bent is not the sort of player who needs an invitation to stick the ball in the back of the net if it is bobbling about near him in the area.
Square peg for a round hole
But, contrary to popular belief, there is much more to Allardyce’s tactics than simply battering every team West Ham come up against with long balls, and Darren Bent has very little to offer a team other than his predatory instinct. Some may believe that he is so good at scoring goals his contribution in other areas of the pitch does not matter, but football is a more of a team game now than ever before.
One person who thinks Bent’s linear style of play is detrimental to the team is his current boss Paul Lambert. It is well publicised that the Villa boss has forsaken Bent’s services in favour of Christian Benteke’s. The reports of Bent falling out of favour at Villa have, after all, fuelled the rumours that clubs such as West Ham are chasing the England striker.
Lambert has dropped Bent because he obviously sees Benteke as more of an all-rounder. Anyone who saw the 22-year-old Belgian’s performance against Liverpool last weekend will have no doubt whatsoever that Lambert has made a wise decision. Benteke scored two and set-up another with an exquisite back-heel as Villa won 3-1 at Anfield.
Darren Bent is a striker who likes to play on the shoulder of the last defender; constantly seeking that defence splitting pass to put him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. As such, he struggles to make an impact on a game when his side line up in a 4-5-1 formation, due to the gulf that is usually between him and his closest teammate. He cannot hold up the ball as well as Andy Carroll or Carlton Cole, so West Ham would need to play one of those two as well as Bent if the club were to seriously consider signing him.
Many purist Hammers fans would welcome the team going back to 4-4-2 with open arms, but who would be sacrificed in midfield to accommodate Bent’s inclusion?
Anyone proposing dropping Mark Noble or Mohammed Diame (when he is fit) so that Bent can play would surely be branded as a despicable heretic given the midfield duo’s excellent performances this season. And any West Ham side without wingers is no West Ham side at all.
That leaves one player: the captain, Kevin Nolan.
Nolan, like Bent, has a way of lurking in the penalty area and snapping up goals at any given opportunity. While he is not as proficient at doing this as Bent is, that is obviously because Nolan is a midfielder and one who takes his defensive duties very seriously, something Bent would not do.
It also has to be said that Allardyce would never drop Nolan because he is the player he has built this West Ham side around. Nolan is the leader, and an excellent one at that. Don’t believe me? Just watch how he chases down every ball when West Ham’s opponents are more than happy to just keep passing it among their defenders – no mean feat for a 30-year-old man of Nolan’s physique. Furthermore, keep an eye on how Nolan makes sure the match officials do not forget he is there scrutinising every last decision they make against West Ham. He is certain to let his marker and the opposition’s goalkeeper know he is there too.
Another expensive gamble
Other than finding a place to put him, another drawback when contemplating buying Darren Bent is finding the money to pay for him. It is well known that market forces dictate clubs have to pay a premium rate for English talent. That is why Bent cost Aston Villa a club record fee of £24m. It is also why Andy Carroll has turned out to be an expensive mistake for Liverpool and could be for West Ham too.
Even if the Hammers were to get Bent at a reduced rate, say half of what Villa paid, he would still not be worth the expenditure because there is no place he can fit into Sam Allardyce’s side.
Not the man for West Ham
West Ham should not even attempt to sign Darren Bent from Aston Villa. The club needs a player similar to what Aston Villa have unearthed in Bent’s replacement, Christian Benteke – a finisher who can also hold the ball up and bring his teammates into the game.
Anyone still thinking West Ham should bid for Bent should bear in mind that he turned the club down once before, in June 2007, when Charlton Athletic accepted the Hammers’ bid for the striker, but he turned down a move to East London and went to Tottenham instead.
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I remember some of Bent’s performances against us and have learnt to respect his talents. He is fast and does offer something different to Cole and Carroll through the middle. I would even say that he’d get more goals than either Cole or Carroll given the same amount of games. Is that what we want from a striker? I think goals are a fundamental prerequisite of a striker, so the answer could be yes.
But on the flip side, does he fit into the current formation of 433/451? .. I’m not sure of his ability to play in the Jarvis or Vaz Te roles, and less convinced of his ability to play in the Nolan role. … Therefore we’d be buying him to play him through the middle or nothing.
Which opens up the question, is he a complement to Cole and Carroll or a replacement for one of them? Signing Bent for that kind of fee (10-12 million) would be a luxury we perhaps cannot afford.
And perhaps a mistake given our real weakness going forward this season has been in the wide positions. Jarvis often under performing and Vaz Te / Yossi injured. .. If we have 10 million to spend, which i doubt we do, I’d buy a world class winger to add to the squad not a 3rd centre forward.
I’d also add a centre back & goalkeeper as squad cover.
No no no simple Anelka and Chamackh speedy defender and Scott Parker and Joe Cole . No Bent
well whoever he sighns surely a blind man can see we dont score enough goalsfor me it would be chamackh and put in a big bid for charlie austin i am from swindon an me and my lad watch them a lot and austin would cut it in the prem take my word
Villa an here – in peace of course 🙂
Very good summary and you covered all of the points. To summarize: Bent scores goals but offers nothing else. There are 2 reasons he doesn’t get into the Villa team and this is one of them. The other is that we simply don’t have the wingers to give him the service right now.
With Benteke and Weimann we have 2 players that will run, chase, hold up, pass and score. Neither are as accomplished finishers as Bent, but both will make up for it with the work they put in, the chances they create for themselves and their team mates and their tenacity to chase when the chips are down.
Bent has missed a few sitters this season, but his blushes have been saved by other players scoring.
He is an “old-school” striker, in that he is a Van Nistelroy or Owen type player – the type of striker that no longer plays for the big teams. These days you need a striker who can do so much more and you’ll find that Bent is probably the last of these type of strikers in the PL.
My verdict: don’t buy him – he won’t offer more than you have now by the sound of your tactics and formation.