So with West Ham bringing in Marouane Chamakh from Arsenal, Wellington Paulista from Cruzeiro and Andy Carroll on his way back from injury, is Carlton Cole’s time up in the first team?
We are lacking goals this season and it is becoming a worry with teams like QPR, Reading and Southampton all starting to look like they are improving. I like Cole as a player as he gives plenty of endeavour and keeps running but the one thing that we need which is goals and he just can’t seem to produce them.
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I think I speak on behalf of the majority of West Ham fans when I say that Cole is a firm fan favourite. We all know what he can produce when he is on his game but on the other hand we equally all know what he lacks when he is not and unfortunately this season he is failing to make the impact West Ham want and more importantly need. With the season moving into an important period West Ham have to start picking up points, getting on a good run and scoring goals so that they are not dragged into a dog fight down at the foot of the table.
With Carlton misfiring Sam Allardyce has moved fast in the transfer market to bring in Chamakh and Wellington Paulista and with Carroll on his way back from injury it’s looking like Carlton’s time is now up.
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We know what big Andy Carroll is about, he is big, strong and good in the air and is an all round handful for any defender. But we have the same exact problem with Carroll as we have with Cole – lots of hard work but the goals are lacking.
That brings me on to Marouane Chamakh who is a player who has real ability and has shown it at Arsenal in glimpses. The start of his Arsenal career went off with a bang with Chamakh scoring 11 goals in 21 games before Robin van Persie returned from injury and then Chamakh found his first team chances limited. Chamakh would be described as a target man with excellent heading abilities and if Sam Allardyce can recapture his confidence and allows him a few games to get going we could have an excellent front man.
Wellington Paulista is a player that I don’t think many West Ham fans can judge yet and to be honest I don’t think many West Ham fans will know that much about him, me included. I know in 2012 playing for Cruzeiro, Paulista scored 28 goals in 40 games which is an excellent goal ratio whatever league you play in. He is said to have good heading ability and has good ball control, he can play up front or can play on either wing which might add to our attacking opinions if he was to play on the wing and cutting in off Chamakh or Carroll. But we are going to have to wait and see.
I would love nothing more than for Carlton Cole to find his form that we all know he has and start scoring goals to keep his place in the team. If this does not start to happen then the problem needs addressed. The last thing West Ham want is to be dragged into a relegation battle due to lack of goals.
Whether it is Cole, Chamakh, Carroll or Wellington Paulista, the ball needs to start finding the back of the net and quickly.
Carl Bateson
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If we played Cole up front with another striker things might be different. As with a bit of help up there the pressure to win every ball would be lifted and he would be more mobile to make runs and look to get goals.