“I just wish he realised he isn’t a footballer, he’s just your bully centre halve, heading and putting his body in the way” This is what my father said to me on the way home on Saturday about James Collins. Since joining the Hammers from Aston Villa in the summer he has had a fairly topsy turvy start to his return to the east end. He forced fans favourite James Tomkins to the bench leaving the Hammers faithful baying for a return to the starting XI for the Basildon born centre halve.
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I for one was very excited by the arrival of Collins in the summer, he was reliable, strong and the ideal replacement for the departing Faye. Following his debut against former club Villa it seemed all would be well, he produced a scintillating display throwing his body on the line and won vital headers throughout. Since then, though mistakes have crept into his game on a regular basis which started with his horror back pass at Swansea. His positioning has been questionable all season and his ambitious passes across the box leave the Hammers faithful with the hands over their eyes.
His pass to Seb Larsson during the Sunderland game set off my doubts, as a defender that is just suicide, it puts the rest of the back four in danger and the abuse he received from the Bobby Moore end, me included. Collins was nicknamed the “ginger Pele” by the faithful during his last stint at the club, he is still adored by the faithful but patience is wearing thin. There is no doubting that he is a menace in the air and his bravery is second to none but if he wants to remain a starting member he will need to cut out the sloppy errors.
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The relieving thing for the Hammers is that the quality sitting on the bench in James Tomkins. He stepped in at right back on Saturday and didn’t look a jot out of place. His marauding runs down the right shows he is not your normal centre halve, he has the footballing ability that Collins lacks. He is a great passer of the ball and has a good first touch.
So do I see him coming in? Tonks working relationship last year with Winston Reid blossomed and with Reid performing superbly this season, he is quickly becoming the first name on the team sheet. I’d give Collins a few more chances to prove himself, as he is reliable in the air and his commitment is second to none. And with Tonks waiting in the wings he will know one more slip up and he may lose his place that sort of competition can only be a good thing.
Come on you Irons!
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Sad to say I don’t think Tomkins is anything like the saviour many West Ham fans want him to be. Impetuous in the challenge, Tonks gets rolled far too often. I’m also surprised you question Collins’ positioning when it’s one of the poorer aspects of James’s game – the big diagonal ball seems to catch him out far too often.
Tomkins had a terrible Olympics and it was noticeable Arsenal looked much more dangerous once he replaced Demel at right-back, even accepting it isn’t his natural position. Sam Allardyce is an extremely good manager who recognises the strength and weaknesses of his players working with them as he does every day. He would appear to have reservations about Tomkins at centre-back and has understandably in my view preferred him as a holding midfielder or right-back where hi9s defects are less likely to be exposed.
I like to think of our 3 centre backs as all top players who i personally am very happy to have in the WH squad. This has not always been the case with former CBs, but these 3 are very good players. Reid has come on leaps and bounds. Tomkins had a great season in the Championship. And Collins loves WH and has “come back home”, he’s willing to put himself on the line and do whatever it takes. .. I see them as 3 positives, unworthy of excessive criticism. Criticism yes, excessive criticism no. Collins has made some mistakes, but so has Reid. They will work on it and hopefully iron out their weaknesses in time.
Okay there’s is an underlying question of ability and a question about how far they can go. i think both Reid and Tomkins can go to the top. I also think Collins is a highly dependable CB. .. I think the reason Collins got the nod at the start of the season was precisely as BS said – because Tomkins had missed pre-season and after the negative experience of the Olympics he had preferred to go with the experience of Collins. Since that decision Collins and the entire back line, have done little over the 8 games to warrant being dropped from the team. So Tomkins has had to play the waiting game. And he’s still waiting for the CB spot…
Tomkins is not a full back or a holding CM, but he’s capable of filling in when needed and that more to our benefit. .. I’m happy. we’re 7th in the league with one of the best defensive records in the league. Take out Swansea and Arsenal and we have conceded 2 goals in 6 games! I don’t see any reason to overly criticise Collins or Tomkins at this point in time. I’m sure Tomkins will get his games before the season is out. … I think the real discussion should be about the lack of cover for these 3 CBs, it is highly possible than one of these 3 will get injured and we will suddenly look exposed with no valid back up. BS is quite happy to rotate these 3 for now, but we should really have 4 recognised CBs in the squad. (Bring back Ferdinand!)