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This Sam Allardyce Error In The Transfer Window Could Cost West Ham

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Jussi JaaskelainenJussi Jaaskelainen looked nervous against Aston Villa, producing another one of his now infamous “Jussi knee-drops” in the face of a shot from Charles N’Zogbia from the free kick. With Jack Butland available in January for £4 million as well as Craig Gordon still available on a free, why didn’t we sign someone else? This is yet another case of a Sam Allardyce favourite getting the nod over potentially much better players.

 

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No one can deny that Jussi has been average/poor in goal for us. Whilst he does not necessarily lose us games himself, I don’t think Jussi will ever win us a game with a fantastic keeping display. Under the high ball he lacks confidence and I think that is the best way to describe every fans feelings when Jussi is on goal, not confident. We may as well give teams a penalty if they get a free kick just outside the box because at least he might attempt to save it then. Admittedly that is a bit of a harsh joke but somewhat true.

Jack Butland is a fantastic young keeper and he has gone to a rugby team (not that we are far off becoming Stoke in disguise to be honest). Stoke have Begovic and Sorensen in their ranks, both top class keepers and they still went in for Butland and got him. I believe we have 2 fantastic centre backs in James Tomkins and Winston Reid, with Tomkins now getting his confidence back. Having a top class keeper or even just a good one would sure up our defence no end. If money was the issue then not getting Craig Gordon on a free is a sin.

In the NFL it is not unheard of to have competition at the key positions. It causes players to push each other forward and whoever gets chosen to start still has the pressure to perform throughout the season. This is an approach we should absolutely adopt at West Ham, not just in the GK position I might add, I’m looking at you Kevin Nolan. Jussi is the only PL class (I use that term hesitantly as I don’t think he actually is) keeper at the club. With all due respect to Raphael Spiegel I don’t think, despite all his talent, he is ready to be a PL keeper, so Jussi is under no pressure whatsoever to perform.

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Having no pressure to perform does not bring the best out of sportsmen. Ask anyone who plays sport, if there is pressure on you to perform you naturally start trying harder and thus performing better. This is something we lack in the squad as a whole. Big Sam’s favouritism is losing us games and by not signing a keeper in January we have left a gaping hole in the goalkeeping position. Even if we just had Henderson and gave him a few games there would be some sort of competition to improve our GK performances. From what I saw of Henderson in the cup games he was assured and pretty good but perhaps loaning him out is a sign of intent that he could be the man for the job next season.

In my opinion, we absolutely should have signed a keeper in January. Jussi, despite being in the group of Big Sam’s golden boys with the likes of Kevin Nolan, Matt Jarvis and Andy Carroll, seems to have little to no confidence in the West Ham goal. The goalkeeping position is a vital one in football and not having a confident one can damage all areas of the field. If you as a team don’t have confidence in your keeper you are naturally nervous as a whole. I can safely this error from Big Sam is not his first and nor will it be his last. Fans who continue to praise his miracle working are surely starting to see his weak points after the Villa game, I am just starting to lose faith in him completely. Under him we are becoming everything that West Ham United shouldn’t be, something I never thought would happen under the chairmanship of two Hammers fans that saw us lift the FA Cup.

 

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11 comments

  • Nick says:

    Also, does anyone else get nervous every time he tries to kick the ball? Looks nervous with little confidence.

  • Helen says:

    Craig Gordon may be on a free but is considering retiring as he has an injury.

  • durutti says:

    i disagree
    I am a fan o WHUFC from abroad so I do not see all the matches and I do not have the ability to chat with other fans but the most matches I have seen Jussi has made a few important saves.
    (and I am not Scandinavian or his friend)

    Gordon is good if he will be like before. A second option is needed too. But I do not think anyone of those mentioned should take his place at the moment.
    Defence is crap!

  • Chris says:

    Jussi is already playing at the top of his game. No amount of keepers pushing him for his place is going to make him play any better.

  • sibbo says:

    the trouble with west ham is fat sam,plays his mates,get rid of sam and we will play football

  • scaley says:

    I disagree. Jussi has made quite a few important saves and to me he bosses his area well.In a couple of games he has made an error but he is no worse than Rob Green. Hasn’t Buckland already signed for another club and been loaned back?

  • Ausie John says:

    How could a keeper win u a game a keeper could keep u in a game but can win a game , even if a keeper can then that means u have a very bad defence and midfield . But yes getting rid of Henderson and not replacing him is stupid .

  • Geoff says:

    Anyone saying get rid of Sam is ridiculous. Were 11th in the Premier League FFS!!! I dont think we will finish that high as we have tough games to play but a 14th place finished should be achieved which is what the majority of fans said they would be more than happy with at the start of the season. I have become frustrated with most of our results since we beat Chelsea and our inability to score goals away from home but i fully believe Sam is the man to get us back on track and i wouldnt rule out us getting a win at home to either Tottenham or Man United. Let me guess you would rather have Paolo.

  • Luke says:

    Listen Geoff SAMs 4-5-1 formation is completely flawed with the total lack of pace in this team .Any one can see that this does not work away from home as the slow midfield cannot support Carroll or cole who flick headers on to no one(Nolan is shocking). The fact that he does not change it means he is either to stubborn to change it or to dim.When we go on a bad run of home games we all know we will get nothing away from home.He must not be given a new contract the football is dire , second only to stoke.Jarvis 11m?current French international loaned out ? Nolan playing every week? 5m on maiga and never plays? Come on the man like nolans legs are gone.Bring in paolo get the place buzzing again and start playing some desent football rather than this utter shit that Sam plays

  • belhus says:

    Geoff
    the problem is the way Sam sets his side out everything revolves around Nolan all we do is pump the long ball any decent side can counteract that.
    When we play on the floor we look decent.
    Can somebody tell me why Sam signs all these players and never plays them does he get part of the signing fee.
    We need to put Nolan on the bench bring in Colison ,Jarvis and someone alongside Carroll who has a bit of movement.Joe Cole is not fit so we need the likes of Collison and Noble to do that little bit extra allowing Cole a free role to get those crosses in to Carroll

  • Lloyd says:

    “Whilst he does not necessarily lose us games himself”…… Did you not watch the Swansea game away when he diverted a ball, that was going wide, into his own net?

    He is a good shot stopper but that is as far as it goes. He has poor positional sense and cannot come out and catch a cross to take the pressure of his defence.

    Should have got someone in during the window. Robinson would have given him decent competition.

    Jussi is a back up keeper at best!

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