Could this arrival see a formation change?

It brings me no surprise that yet another signing has been made by Sam Allardyce and his team, as they look to transform West Ham United from a squad capable of being promoted from the Championship, into a team capable of gaining stability in the Premiership. The most recent signing is Alou Diarra from Olympique De Marseille (Another central midfielder) could this see us change formation? Or will he be deployed in the equally capable centre back role?

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Diarra has had a great career, playing for teams such as Lyon, Marseille, Bordeux, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. The early days in his career saw him being touted as one of the next big prospects from France which saw Bayern Munich sign him up in 2000, but after failing to break into the first team, Liverpool came sniffing and captured the youngster in 2002. Unfortunately for Diarra, he also failed to break into the Liverpool squad which saw him loaned out 3 seasons running, to Le Havre, Bastia and Lens respectively, the latter he eventually signed for on a permanent basis in 2005. After a series of solid performances, it appeared that Diarra was really starting to find his game, which saw 5 time defending French title dominators; Lyon sign him the following season for $6.25m. His time at Lyon was a bit of a rollercoaster ride, which saw him only make 15 appearances scoring 1 goal, as he had feuds with the current manager at the time Gerard Houllier, Suffered from injury setbacks, missed the Coupe De La Lique Final and helped Lyon win their 6th consecutive title.

Throughout his career so far, Diarra has managed to win a variety of acholades to his name, such as the League title twice (Lyon in 2006-07, Bordeux in 2008-09) the Coupe De La Ligue with Bordeux in 2009 and again with Marseille in 2012, the Trophee Des Champions also with Bordeux in 2008, 2009 and with Marseille in 2011. He also managed to achieve success at 2006 World Cup winning the silver medal.

 

 

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Enough of the past, how could this 6ft 3inch defensive midfielder help us secure Premier League survival and stability? Well, as many fans might be aware now he is a powerhouse as he demonstrated in the Euros picking up the pieces just in front of the French defensive line. With his height and power, he is very much a signing Big Sam is always looking to make, but don’t be mistaken he is very composed on the ball and likes to play the simple passing game and leave the flair work to more advanced positions in the team. I am most likely guessing this will bring mixed emotions with fans asking questions such as “why another central midfielder?” or “At 31 isn’t he past it now?” But what if Big Sam has a plan that none of us are aware of yet, maybe a change in formation? He might decide to play him as a centre back to help Tomkins develop, as he is just as capable of playing there too? I wouldn’t question this signing, however I would suggest this signing could well be a surprise to many Hammers fans and he could turn out to be a real coup.

With the likes of Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan and Jack Collison most likely the more advanced central midield players, players such as Gary O’Neil, Mohamed Diame and Alou Diarra will be more defensive, the question is…who is going to start? My opinion with the current players we have, expect to see Big Sam choose to play the 4-2-3-1 formation (away), with Guy Demel, James Tomkins, James Collins, George McCartney as the back four, Alou Diarra and Momo Diame as the two holding midfielders, with Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Vaz Te as the forward Midfielders, leaving the forward role in the balance between Modibo Maiga, Carlton Cole and Nicky Maynard. When playing at home however the formation is going to be a tough one to call as a couple of the central midfielders would surely have to make way, would they not? In my opinion I think we should try and adapt to the new Italian way of tactics, by playing three at the back Alou Diarra as the sweeper, with James Tomkins and James Collins just in front of him. This would then be followed by having Diame as a holding midfielder and Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble slightly advanced, whilst having Matthew Taylor on the left and either Gary O’Neil or Jack Collison on the right (would help with a new right wing signing to fill this void) and then have Modibo Maiga play on the left wing, Carlton Cole as the centre forward and have Vaz Te on the right wing, as this would surely provide solidity through the middle, whilst offering width when attacking.

I know that the formation and player choices would surely cause a debate amongst fans, let me know what you think of the signing of Alou Diarra and what formation you would choose using the players we currently have on our books. COYI!

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