Players that could fill the areas of weaknesses

Each new season always brings new ideas, aims and hard work, but it will always be the lure of potential transfer targets and the buzz of signing a new player, that will always grab the headlines in a fans eyes. Which brings me to my point, everyone has their opinion on where they think we need to improve or reinforce to increase the odds of us having a successful season, but what players could really have the influence we need to avoid relegation and push on to greater things?

1. Firstly the area that stands out most is the heart of the defence, fans are literally screaming for Big Sam to bring in at least two players who are capable of resisting the physicality and pace of the Premiership. Reports on “Twitter” (if you believe in them) are suggesting that we have offers on the table for three centre backs, some suggest they are Abdoulaye Ba, Javier Torres and Alberto Botia. Although all of have solid seasons for their teams last year, in teams with not many stand out players, you could argue that the fact they have no Premiership experience could be a gamble, but one that could be potentially worth it, because if you have ability in my opinion, all you need is to learn to adapt, take Winston Reid last year (admittedly it was in the Championship) but he is improving to life in England.

The player that I feel we should bust a gut to sign is ex-Hammer James Collins. He is a player that I feel we never should have let go, he was commanding, aerially dominating and he would throw himself at almost anything and everything. Every West Ham fan must remember how strong that defensive partnership was with Matthew Upson was, even when Matthew Upson’s form started to dip before his transfer, James Collins carried the defence single handily. He brings years of experience in the top flight and knows the club very well after spending 4 years with us, although a lot has changed and still is changing, James Collins is a player I would love to see be a part of that. The assurance he would bring would be endless and everyone could expect the likes of James Tomkins and Jordan Spence to learn a lot from him. We could potentially sign him for as little as £2m as Aston Villa are also looking to transform their teams and although he is a solid player for them, his form was never that as it was for us and they could look to be bringing in a fresh face in replace of him.

The fastest growing Hammers website is now on Facebook, click the link to be entered into our up and coming competitions http://www.facebook.com/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282

2. I couldn’t really decide what needs more attention, right back or right wing, but after a more intensive look at the squad and the consideration of what formation we might be playing this year, the right back position is certainly an area that needs to be worked on in terms of quality. At the moment we currently have Guy Demel, Joey O’Brien and makeshift right back Jordan Spence playing for the right side of defence, but none scream out to me as Premiership quality. When Guy Demel was signed, many praise came from Germany based on his ability, well no disrespect to Demel…where is it? So far we have had to put up with him being on the side lines for months due to injury and when he has played he looks sluggish and not up to the demands of English football. Joey O’Brien looked like a very promising player for us in his first season and showed glimpses of real quality overlaps and hard craft, but that all seems to have faded away over the course of time. Which leaves me with Jordan Spence, I have always been a fan of him at centre back and I reckon this year will be the deciding year if he is good enough for us and if he will be reach his potential, despite being a fan of him I still feel he lacks something that we need when playing at right back.

A player who I feel we should strongly consider after missing out on the promising Nathaniel Clyne, is a young Brazilian fullback named Cicinho and just in case anyone is wondering it’s not the one who played for AS Roma, but for Palmeiras in the Brazilian Brasileirão. He is showing very good signs after a promising debut season for his current club. Although not considered to be a well-known name in football, expect this to change over the next few years as he is well in the mould of the current day wing back. He is a player that loves to bomb forward up and down the right flank all game, his energy seems to be endless, yet he manages to keep a composed head and move the ball very well, as you would expect from a Brazilian. At this point you may think that I am crazy putting such faith in a player that has never played outside of Brazil and with the history of Brazilians failing in English football also making this move look less appealing, he would still be very much worth the risk.

 

 

Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details

3. The list of names I could mention that I would love to see play on the right wing for us is endless, so I am going to mention one name and one name only, Jakub Błaszczykowski. Now this is a player who is capable of beating his man, accelerating at great pace and delivering a cross which is very accurate, something we have lacked in what seems centuries. When you look at the players we have had play on the right side in recent years, there were the likes of Barrera, Faubert, Collison (when asked), Vaz Te, Gary O’Neil and David Bentley. Apart from the last name mentioned, none of those players are crossing specialists and some are just make shift right wingers. We need to find that balance on the wings like we have in the middle of midfield and the signing of this guy from Borussia Dortmund would be a real coup but admittedly challenging, as Borussia Dortmund have not long let Shinji Kagawa join Manchester United and would be less likely to let another attacking starlet go, or would they? This was quote from the Poland Coach Franciszek Smuda “Lewandowski is going to Manchester United, Jakub Blaszczykowski also somewhere in England, Lukasz Piszczek to Real Madrid”. It’s a long shot and highly unlikely that the club is us, but football is very unpredictable.

As fans we all have hundreds of players we would love to see play for our club, but it’s up to the Chairmen to work their magic and get the deals concluded, all we can do is wait and have trust in what they do.

Ever dreamt about getting paid for reading about West Ham? Well now you can make dreams a reality http://bit.ly/ffc-foreverwestham-lp