Lean and mean

While having depth to a squad is essential for top flight success (and even survival), sometimes tough decisions must be made and players who do not fit with the club, are below standard, or simply underwhelm must be let go, both to preserve the overall quality of the squad and to cut financial losses.  Recently, David Gold used his Twitter account to declare that he didn’t expect any other players to leave West Ham this transfer window, but I’m curious if we have made enough room for new arrivals and gotten rid of those players which simply don’t have a future at the club. 

Clearly, we are in the market for some players, including a striker, a wide man, and a defender.  We have moved a considerable number of players on, such as Freddie Sears, Pablo Barrera, Julien Faubert, Robert Green, Abdoulaye Faye, Papa Bouba Diop, and most recently Marek Stech.  We have cleared substantial room for some (hopefully!!) very exciting potential transfers.  When looking at the squad list, I’d say we can’t honestly afford to thin out the squad much more than we have.  At any level, injuries often prove the difference between overachieving and barely surviving.  We must have depth to cover our first team for what will surely be a long and grueling season, not to mention provide Big Sam with the flexibility he requires. No, really.  Stop laughing.

The point is, we are going to need all the help we can get this season.  It’s going to be tiresome (for the players), and some will go down injured.  It’s a fact of life.  I’m not going to lie, seeing a few of these players leave was a relief, but we simply need to fill the holes they’ve left, preferably with quality players.