Lately West Ham United have been short of numbers due to injuries to key players like Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame. This has meant some of the younger players in our ranks such as Elliott Lee, George Moncur and Sebastian Lletget have been named on the substitutes bench.
Dan Potts and Jordan Spence are the only two youngsters who have really been given any game time in the first team with Potts playing the whole match in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United in the FA Cup and Spence making a number of substitute appearances in the Premier League.
Despite the fact that a lot of the youngsters have been in and around the team very few have actually featured for the first team and with new players such as Joe Cole and Marouane Chamakh coming in should there still be opportunities for certain youngsters?
Are you on Facebook? Excellent, so are we http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282
First of all I will be looking at the two players who have actually been given a chance in the first team, Spence and Potts, and will see if they have shown that they should feature more often.
Both players are defenders in a team which has looked pretty solid without them and so it may be very difficult for the pair to break into the team.
In my opinion Dan Potts should definitely feature in the next game after what I thought was the performance of a man far beyond his years, after his loan spell at Colchester United playing in League 1 to play against the team currently standing at the top of the Premiership shows the true quality that he possesses.
As for Jordan Spence I think that he has also carried himself in a very good way and should definitely keep his place on the bench; however I don’t think that he is good enough to take the right back spot ahead of Guy Demel or Joey O’Brien, as since we got back into the Premier League both of them have played great for the team and have done well both while going forward and defensively.
The other players in and around the first team are Leo Chambers, Sebastian Lletget, Elliott Lee, George Moncur, Callum Driver, Matthias Fanimo and Raphael Spiegel all appearing on the bench and some of these may be a bit disheartened that they haven’t at least got a run out in the side and I think that one or two of them should get a run out in the near future.
The two main players that I would give a few minutes of first team action to are George Moncur and Elliot Lee. These two I feel could definitely come off the bench, even if it is when the Hammers are in a comfortable position and help keep hold of the lead and earn valuable experience.
Leo Chambers is also a promising talent but we may have to wait a while until we get to see his talents as he is currently injured but the player who has represented England at under 18 level could definitely be a useful player to have on the bench.
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
There have also been some players who have got out on loan this term; Ravel Morrison and Rob Hall have been playing for Birmingham City, Stephen Henderson has been at Ipswich Town, Blair Turgott is at Capital One Cup surprise package Bradford City and Paul McCallum is at AFC Wimbledon and they have all shown quality at different levels.
After seeing some of his performances for Birmingham I feel that Ravel Morrison would be able to push for a place in our team at the beginning of next season when his loan spell ends with Rob Hall showing the same credentials and quality that could get him into our side in the near future. McCallum and Blair Turgott have shown that they could be future stars but they aren’t quite ready yet and I think Henderson would be our second choice goalkeeper when returning to West Ham.
Ever dreamt about getting paid for reading about West Ham? Well now you can make dreams a reality http://bit.ly/ffc-foreverwestham-lp
As much as l like Sam l feel he is not going to give the youngsters much of a chance ie pushing out Topkins for Collins I know he has scored some goals but he has also made lots of mistakes and he worries the hell out of me, He is a hoofer and not consistent, where as Tompkins is calm and skilful. I think his confidence is a bit low He and Read were great together last year and the thanks he gets is a seat on the bench.And has anyone noticed that the demise of the defence coincides with the departure of Wally Downes JUST SAYING