Whilst we’re all proud of James Tomkins representing Great Britain in the Olympics…one can’t help but be a bit worried by the dreaded what ifs…
West Ham as a club down the years have had more than our fair share our injuries just before the start of a brand spanking new campaign…names such as Kieron Dyer, Dean Ashton, Julien Faubert and Thomas Hitzlsperger all come to mind.
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The tabloid’s may be full of headlines like ‘Tomkins aims to emulate Bobby Moore by lifting a major trophy at Wembley’ but the thoughts of long suffering Hammers fans will be almost solely on hoping we have our best centre half available for the start of the new season.
It’s easy to see why Tonks was chosen for the Olympic squad: he had a great season for us; his dip into the Championship seems to have battle hardened him; replaced his soft centre with a new found steely resolve and a ‘thou shall not pass’ mantra. These qualities allied to his comfort and ability on the ball make him nailed on to start for Great Britain in my humble opinion.
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The aforementioned qualities are also key to our hopes of surviving our first season back amongst the elite of English football. So whilst we all wish Tonks all the best as he takes his richly deserved place in the GB squad and yes it would be sweet to see him in some sort of way emulate our great, legendary club captain in Bobby Moore by lifting international silverware on the sacred turf of Wembley…what’s far more important to us is that he doesn’t add his name to the seemingly endless list of key players who have got injured for us on the dawn of a new season.
I remember when we played in the intertoto cup and instead of freindlies we had competitive games, we stared the season running. I think this could also be the case for Tomkins, competitive games may sharpen him quicker than freindlies alone and could give him the edge over other premiership strikers. I hope it turns out like that.
We will need leaders next season as it will be tough to re-establish ourselves. JT will gain valuable experience and further self confidence in participating. Yes there is a risk with injury – but for me the benefits for the club outweigh that.