Make no mistake about it, Mauro Zarate was back with a point to prove last night.
There was a lot of expectation surrounding the promising 28-year-old despite his lack of opportunities and poor form on loan to Queens Park Rangers last season.
After what was a low start, Zarate showed the fans exactly what he has to offer, albeit against poor opposition.
His involvement in the first goal was exceptional. Always looking for the ball, he made himself available and dribbled past a couple of players. Usually, Zarate is prone to being quite selfish in attacking positions and often looks to do things on his own. This time was different, however. With time on the ball, he looked up and sent an inch-perfect cross to the back post which Diafra Sakho calmly headed home.
He was also impressive in the build-up to the second goal, linking up with the excellent Morgan Amalfitano to complete Sakho’s brace.
There was almost an air of expectancy surrounding Zarate’s return to the West Ham side and his display will definitely sit well with the new manager. The forward constantly looked hungry for the ball, appearing in pockets of space in order to break down a stubborn Lusitans side. The forward certainly has the ability to act as a second-striker, linking the play between midfield and up-front.
The partnership with Diafra Sakho was also very encouraging. There seemed to be a good understanding between the pair throughout the evening and West Ham should have scored more than the three they got on the night.
Other highlights in the West Ham team included Morgan Amalfitano and Matt Jarvis who provided excellent width that caused a lot of problems for Lusitans. The young players were very impressive as well. Reece Oxford was assured and looked like he had been playing at senior level for a number of years whilst Diego Poyet was impressive in the middle of the park. Lewis Page was a constant threat with his crosses into the box from the left-back position, rounding off an encouraging display in West Ham’s first competitive match of the new season.
It is important to remember that the opposition were not the greatest so performances from the game should only be taken with a pinch of salt. Although this is the case, Zarate has got off to an excellent start in his return to the West Ham team and hopefully he can now really push on from here. Matt Jarvis looked a more confident figure as well and if he can return to his best form the club will certainly have strength in depth for the season ahead.
Yes, it’s all early days but West Ham look hungry once again and that in itself is progress already.
I have posted several times on other sites, that starting Zarate showed that Bilic is prepared to give him the chance Sam never did. I believe he sees a rejuvenated Zarate plus a fit Carroll adds up to a much reduced need for us to be chasing 15mil. Strikers. All of which gives him more flexibility to go higher for a quality addition to shore up our defence which is still too thin on the ground.
We need to be careful with Zarate and Jarvis – Zarate is actually quite difficult to play with, he has good technical ability but his selfishness gets the better of him a lot of times and his awareness is sometimes lacking to those around him – he often takes more difficult options instead of the easier ones, simple passes that could be made to keep possession are overlooked for either his own attempts to take players on needlessly or to pick out a decisive or more difficult pass that isn’t really on and often gives up possession, and isn’t the best at tracking back to help the team defend either, which was one of Sam big issues with him – if he had a bit more of the team player in him then he would fair far better, im not saying he isn’t good enough but he could do himself more favours if he worked harder for he team and gave more consideration to team play – there are times you watch him and could almost believe he is showboating as he ignores his own team mates to suit his own agenda, and to no avail – as for Jarvis, from a fans perspective he is kind of caught up in his price tag, few think he has met true value for what we have paid for him and hasn’t exactly shined in the years since hes signed – his biggest issue is he struggles for consistency and rarely turns up on big games but e can be areal handful when he is on his game, I have no doubt he has lost a fair bit of confidence, last season saw him with a bit part role but as a winger hes criticised not for the crosses he puts in but the fact they rarely find a target – I put that down to the fact our front line has been average until last summer, we have had Caroll but he has spent a fair bit of time injured which hasn’t helped and CCole and Maiga were never good enough to get on the end of anything and neither have any loanees weve brought in to cover, thus leaving Jarvis a little exposed to critics, and Sam didn’t use him that much last season because Cresswell was doing a brilliant job on that side as a wing back meaning we could play a more attacking formation with 2 strikers – Jarvis works very hard for the team and I think he will have a role to play under Bilic this season, he could easily prove himself if he can consistently deliver to our front men – but I also think both Zarate and Jarvis need to have standout seasons this year to continue their time at the club, as depth with all that’s going on this season they are definitely going to get their chances, they are just going to have to take them.
And strikers – maiga i think we need to improve on as depth – I also believe paying 15 mil for the likes of Austin and Remy is a mistake, we definitely need one more striker, but our scouting has been exceptional over the last 18 months and there are more Sakho’s out their of similar value we could bring in to be more competitive in that dept – even from an experience perspective maybe Chicharito could be a good option, he scores everywhere he goes, he is surplus to man U and might be available for a value price or even a loan deal – hes done his collarbone on intl duty right now but is expected to be back within a month – just food for thought on that one.
Bilic is looking to Bolster CD with another addition and whilst we are bring Jenks in on loan again we need a more competitive and better quality option than Obrien to cover that role – and midfield it looks like Song is coming, we are seriously looking at Cabaye to add as another playmaker to Payet and have plenty of other options in there to cover our arduous season –
Above all else – COYI
Only one game. Still got a hell of a lot to prove for my liking. He has previous for brattish/childish behaviour and my worry is if he doesn’t get his own way we are only a moment away from another tantrum.
Whatever happened to the performance of palace away?