Is there Premier League quality at West Ham?

With West Ham confirming the 25-man squad for the remainder of the season, it seems an appropriate time to gage where it sits in terms of quality.

The way I see it, the squad falls into four distinct groups – there are players of genuine Premier League quality, squad players, deadwood, and unproven signings.

Here’s a brief run down, but feel free to reply with your thoughts…

Those of Premier League class I’m saying are players other clubs would want and who can undoubtedly perform at the top level.

On that basis, Andy Carroll and Winston Reid are probably our most prized assets, and would be sought after if we were to go down.

Mohamed Diame has been a solid performer, and would be snapped up, as would Alou Diarra, who on paper is an asset, despite his apparent lack of application.

After certain games and reading certain press, you would be lead to believe the English contingent of Stewart Downing, Matt Jarvis, Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan and James Tomkins could all be surprise inclusions for a World Cup slot. Although probably wide of the mark, if not totally off course, they have plenty of top flight experience and are key to our squad. Relegation would probably see them all move to a club looking to ‘Buy British’.

It has only been a short spell between the sticks, but I think Adrian has already proved top class, and can establish himself as a mainstay in the Premier League, hopefully with us.

There are a similar number of players I consider squad players or regulars at Championship level. They have proved their worth in the Premier League, but would also likely stick around if we got relegated.

Defensively, you would be hard pushed to sell on James Collins, Guy Demel, Jussi Jaaskelainen, George McCartney and Joey O’Brien while finding adequate replacements at either level.

A few weeks ago, I would have had nothing much positive to say about Matt Taylor, but he has proved he is up for the fight and can be an asset to the squad as a whole.

The home grown talent of Joe Cole and Jack Collison are well thought of by fans, who would want to see them stick around, while Carlton Cole has always proved willing and can always be said to do a job for the team in any league.

The deadwood are players we’d happily sell to clear the wage bill.

Stephen Henderson, Roger Johnson, and Ricardo Vaz Te, do not need to be around next season, and with Under-21 players Ravel Morrison and Abdul Razak already assimilated into the squad, there are already plenty of readymade replacements.

That leaves three of our transfer window signings, who remain unproven.

Pablo Armero has clearly been brought in as first choice left-back, and will need to impress quickly if we are to continue our exceptional clean sheet record.

The Italian duo of Marco Borriello and Antonio Nocerino  have had little to no game time, although we are all hoping they bring the quality to boost the team up the table.

It is unclear whether there are options to make the moves permanent at the end of the loans, but if any do indeed impress while keeping the team up, it would be strange to see Sam Allardyce let them walk back to their parent clubs without putting on a bit of a charm offensive.