The story of the season so far is that West Ham are defending well but finding it very hard to score. With record signing Andy Carroll still on the sidelines, Kevin Nolan in my opinion is really struggling to get involved in games.
His goal tally does speak for itself and his captaincy is very good, but when playing 4-6-0 I am starting to wonder whether he still has a role in the side.
Nolan is brilliant at playing off Carroll’s knockdowns and feeding off his scraps, but he seems to be a bit lost with no big striker to link up with.
There has been a lot of criticism from Irons fans directed at Nolan and I thought it was harsh at the time, however, recent performances have made me doubt his place in the team.
When there is no striker on the pitch we need lots of creativity in the midfield so I would be tempted to maybe play Joe Cole centrally with Mohamed Diame, Mark Noble and Ravel Morrison. Nolan coming off the bench could have a great impact as well, like we seen against Burnley in the Capital One Cup.
When Carroll is back or if we opt to play Carlton Cole then Nolan has a very important job to do, he pops up in areas that defenders hate and will score goals. He just seems a little off the pace compared to the rest of the midfield and a place on the bench might make him come back stronger.
Dropping the captain seems to be a route that Sam Allardyce doesn’t want to take and it would be a bold move to do so, what would you Hammers fans like to see?
Tweet me- @jmrmarsden1
I have defended Nolan but i can see that he is missing Carroll & must be rested till he returns. Still so down after that performance, so good first half bloody terrible second half. We must get Defoe in January or we will be in big trouble.
Everybody can see that Nolan is a liability without Carroll in the side ,how many games do we have to lose before Sam has the bottle to drop him to the bench.
Also if he is going to play Joe Cole it cant be as a winger he has not got the pace his only attribute now is doing the unexpected
Sorry can’t agree about Defoe. Fat Sam can only set up one way hence all the crosses coming in and not playing a forward. Defoe would make no difference at 5 ft 6in . Nolan has to go we can’t afford to play with 10 men every week . Also give one of the young centre halves a chance as ginge is a liability and is bringing down tomkins. Unless fatty changes his tactics more of yesterday’s 2nd halves will become the norm. Sad hammer !
Being captain is no excuse for not being dropped,if you are not pulling your weight you should be given a kick up the backside and left out of the team its as simple as that,but our managers blue eyed boy can do no wrong this according to SAM.
yawn yawn…Lets have an article that we ain’t read already!!! No wonder you hardly have any followers on twitter
Agree that Nolan should be benched and give more gifted midfielder the slot. For the future Defoe is a must if we are to stay in Premiership
Usual negative rubbish he made the assist yesterday so not quite as inefective as his knockers insist
What game are you watching mate? ‘Made the assist’ was his sole contribution to the game other than ‘give the ball away countless times’, ‘plod around the pitch without ever closing anyone down’, ‘make half-hearted attempts at heading the ball without ever actually heading it’, ‘moving so slowly that he gets dispossessed time and time again’, ‘missing several gilt-edged chances throughout the season….do I need to go on, you must be wearing the same Nolan specs as BFS!!!!!
Agree that Nolan should drop to bench. The manager should not make excuses as at the end of the season if we are relegated it will be his responsibility. To much money and time on Carroll will not keep us up. Bring in Defoe and play Diame further forward perhaps?
Drop him…… And list him
LACKING FIRE POWER NEED A STRONG PLAYER WHO CAN CONTROL THE GAME DEFOE WOULD BE OK HE S A GOAL HUNTER
Simple play him as the striker, he is a proven goalscorer its worth a shot!
West Ham ACE…and the article is about stroller, waste of space Nolan…do me a favour. We are in effect playing with ten men. Hopeless and living on past glories. Drop and replace NOW !
Bored of this season now after such optimism initially. Look at southampton then look at us. Its embarrasing the crap we are losing to. Only beat cardiff cos they were nervous on first day and spurs was a complete one off fluke! The surprise element of 4-6-0 has now gone. Sonething has to change!
It took him 2years but he has finally got us playing the west ham way. Oh wait a minute didn’t he say HIS teams are better than that. Stop blaming everyone else and start doing the job your very well paid for.
Carroll needs a hair cut and Carlton cole is no Andy cole!! Come on Man U!!
why our you on our web site manc ? is yours too dull coyi
so much discussion on so many sites trying to change things that can’t be changed- you cannot expect to win games with no striker- hence every other team in the premiership plays at least one!!!- purchasing Carrol made it obvious to any other striker they would not be No1 or have any chance of No1 therefore if Carrol was fit they don’t play- hence nobody joined us. The only way round this was to spend what money we did have on lower league strikers who would accept a chance (and if clever know Carrol would be unfit more than fit)- instead we made no real effort until the last day when it was ll too late- usual try and get some stuff as the shop is closing on the cheap – I don’t dispute Carrol maybe perfect for Fat Sam’s style but to put all the eggs in a basket, that 99% of fans don’t like anyway should be a sackable offence- he has to go as he has no plan B, get someone in now who can work other methods and has a chance come January to attract quality- be that loan or purchase- with apparently no money due to wages, nobody feeling loved if Carrol is fit- who is really going to join us??? Starting to think relegation- score goals and there’s always a chance of winning, can’t score wont stay up- simple as unfortunately- Norwich were shit beyond believe and we couldn’t even win that
drop him then sell him wast of space
After almost 50 years of following this club, I’ve almost had enough. I mean the dirge continues. With just about every media outlet & almost anyone who is not a West Ham fan hating West Ham. It really is quite overwhelming when every media outlet who I tune into, that is broadcasting a West Ham game, is nearly always biased towards the opposition. It’s like everyone outside of West Ham’s followers hates West Ham. I’ve also had enough of the everlasting struggle that West Ham have trying to get anywhere in football. For 50 years West Ham have sometimes almost been on the verge of making it, but as I say, the odds are always stacked against them, whether it be Spurs sabotaging West Ham’s ownership bid of the Olympic stadium, the establishment wanting East London to stay in the doldrums, with just about every club and media outlet disliking West Ham, or whatever, the list just goes on & on. A bit of respite has been gained with Sam being manager as he has such huge respect from all of the football fraternity. Personally, I think West Ham, have more fun and success in the Championship, but it’s in the Premier League where Sam wants to stick us. Look, Norwich were there to be taken yesterday. West Ham had them done like a dogs dinner and should have been out of sight, over the hills and far away by at least 3 – 0 at half time. They let Norwich off of the hook. West Ham’s lack of strike force was really apparent, and the idea of putting Nolan up front as a striker, really did not work. I do think Nolan sometimes has a bit of a cavalier fashion and lets the devil take the hindmost. As I say, the game should have been wrapped up at half time. OK, the 1st Norwich goal, I thought was a bit of a harsh decision, with Jussi being adjudged to have impeded the Norwich player. I mean the goal came out of nowhere and with Jussi’s normally safe hands; there looked like absolutely no danger, until he dropped the ball & tried to retrieve it. I do not think a penalty should have been awarded though. I also, do not think Jussi gave a very good performance on Saturday. I mean the penalty was hit right at him, but he went early and dove away from the ball. With the 2nd goal, Jussi left a huge gap to his left, leaving it impossible to cover. The Norwich player taking the free kick, saw this gap, went straight for it, and the wall didn’t even jump? With the free kick resulting in a straight forward, easy goal for the taking. West Ham just lost it in the 2nd half. A game of 2 halves with a broken Norwich team and manager being down and out in the 1st half, but Norwich took full advantage of their being let off the hook in the 2nd half thank you very much. I didn’t give a damn about their 3rd goal, as what does it matter if you lose 2 – 1 or 3 – 1, when you are losing the game and on zero points, who cares if a 3rd goal is conceded while trying to equalize? Sam’s agenda of building a team around Andy Carroll has really backfired. Andy has got a very difficult injury, which could re-occur anytime and never heal, who knows. The result is that West Ham do not have a recognized striker. West Ham have some really difficult fixtures ahead of them and are serious contenders for relegation, which for me would be a bit of a relief. I mean why come back to the Premier League if you are not ready. The pressure of a continual strategy for survival is agony, instead of having the freedom to strive & win things. West Ham had the team and should have been champions in the 1960s and in the 1980s with Tony Cottee & Frank McAvennie. They have not had the success they deserve and are now paying the price of failure because of money being of such importance in the modern game. Really, it’s a lack of money that has always been West Ham’ s main problem, as when they do get anyone who is really good, playing for them, then the big clubs just come along and poach them. Whose next to be sold, Ravel, Diame? Who knows & who knows where West Ham are headed for, as I think the Olympic stadium is one huge white elephant.
Our problem revolves around the BFS/Nolan love affair. Bin Nolan and BFS could still become a Hammers legend. I counted 4 hospital balls to team mates by the too slow in thought and action one at Norwich. Noble and Morrisson try to get these passes and will one day suffer a serious injury which will only cement Nolan’s place. I sure Diame’s current dip is because he kept getting subbed with useless Nolan being left on and probably asked BFS “Why!!!!!!”
there is so much wrong with our team at the moment 4 5 0 is farcial haven’t we got any decent dv squad forwards who would run themselves into the ground for the cause? and Nolan the passenger vaz te collision maiga carlton cole are championship players we keep hearing andy carrolles goals are costing us but fat sam could have signed two 8m strikers but no put all your eggs in one basket and here we are your fault allardyce time to go do us a favour and quit!