It’s nice to celebrate a good result instead of a performance for once, I think we can agree too many times in recent weeks West Ham have not been able to see games out.
The win against Norwich City was key, a real 6-pointer, we were slipping down the Premier League table, one win in seven, and being pulled into the relegation scrap. For me, that Norwich first half performance was our best since the first half against Fulham, complete and utter dominance from the get go.
Defensively we looked solid, their only real chance was the Robert Snodgrass free-kick, other than that, we kept Europe’s second form side (behind Barcelona) quiet. Might as well skip over the second half because it was rather ineffectual, just a nice Norwich goal, but other than that, we were comfortable.
Man of the match for me was, Winston Reid. It’s very clear now the marked improvement in his game and performance from the last time we were in the Premier League, he looks much more comfortable in possession, knows when to clear, calm when pressured, and looks a well-rounded defender now with his time in the Championship proving key to the his development.
Reid was never really a sure-fire start two or three years ago, he has that self confidence that he is one of the first names on the team-sheet, and for me, he’s one of the players of the season, up there with Mark Noble and Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Now time for a little rant…
I like Ricardo Vaz Te, he has game changing ability. However, I am not comfortable with him playing on the wing. His delivery is not that of Matt Jarvis or Taylor, and is more wasteful than creative and I think RVT plays much better in a central position.
The miss against Reading was truly shocking. I made the suggestion in July, when there were rumours of RVT possibly being on his way out, and to the surprise of many Hammers, I would have supported that. He is not the player some think he is. I would have much preferred us to have brought in the £3-4million he was rated, and spend that on an out-and-out winger to play opposite Jarvis.
Now, continuing on from Jarvis, him and Taylor. I am certain some of you have noticed they have swapped wings in recent weeks. Taylor, a left-footed player, out on the right, and Jarvis, two-footed, playing on Taylor’s strong side, the left. Surely for tactical purposes it makes more sense to swap them over?
Taylor can provide more cover for our make-shift left back Joey O’Brien, who has been impressive, coped well, but it makes more sense, I think you’ll agree.
Now, the January window is upon us, and not even 48 hours in, we have many links, ins and outs. One out is Modibo Maiga. Fair enough. Not exactly been lighting the world up since joining, but that’s what happens when you play a striker on the wing. You cannot create a fair opinion of Maiga until he has had an extended run as a striker, where I think he will work wonders. I lobbied for this signing when the initial link was there, I had seen clips of him at Sochaux, and thought he would be a good addition. He would be a Newcastle United player right now if they would have taken the risk we did on his underlying heart condition, and he has been linked with a move to Newcastle.
I wouldn’t look to get rid of Maiga but I would listen to offers if they met the valuation, I think the money can be spent on other area’s if we can secure the short term signing of Nicolas Anelka (although looking unlikely due to wages).
Lets crack on with the January window then. We all know the areas of weakness, lack of depth, fullback, winger and striker.
The club are on limited budgets, so they are looking for astute loan signings so see us through until the summer, the likes of Anelka, Joe Cole, Stephen Warnock, sure not the classiest of signings, but will do a job if called upon, have played in the Premier Legue, so have the much needed experience. I feel more comfortable on playing a Warnock ahead of the inexperienced Jordan Spence at this stage, just to be safe, main aim is to secure Premier League football next season, and being 14 points off the magical 40 total is a good sign of progression since the last PL experience, we look much more stable.
We are talking maybe around £5-7million to spend this January, some of that may be included in loan fee’s as well, so I suspect some of you may be disappointed on the business, but you need to realise, we were not going to go out and spend millions on players, there’s no need, as long as none of our stars, the likes of Mohamed Diame, James Tomkins and Winston Reid are not sold this window, I’ll be a happy Hammer.
So, to wrap up, here’s to a successful January, and hope none of our stars are sold! In Sam We Trust.
