So far this season, I have not been too impressed with our supposed ‘star’ signing Enner Valencia. He has featured in 19 games this season, scoring merely three goals. Compared to our other forward signing from the summer, Diafra Sakho has been prolific scoring an impressive eight goals in 14 games.
The quality of Valencia’s three goals are second to none, a fantastic header against Burnley and an even better diving header at Stoke. Not forgetting his 30-yard wonder strike against Hull. His three goals were amazing, but he is hardly prolific, he has spurned far too many chances. He could have many more goals but he isn’t clinical enough in front of goal. For example on 27th August, he had his penalty saved by Mark Howard as West Ham were knocked out at home in the second round of the Football League Cup by Sheffield United. His penalty was to keep us in the shoot-out, but when he had it saved, it lost the tie for us and put West Ham out of the cup.
Currently, our strike partnership is Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho. Enner Valencia has to play second fiddle to these two. It is more common for strikers to dip in and out of form. Currently Diafra Sakho is on fire but that can all change in the blink of an eye. Suddenly Enner Valencia could hit a purple patch and the tables could turn. I think we do need to keep him in and around the team, there’s nothing better for a striker than healthy competition. And also since Zarate has been loaned out I think we lack cover up front if we get a couple of injuries. Say Carroll gets injured again; the strike partnership would be Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho, with Carlton Cole as back-up. In my opinion Cole isn’t a Premier League striker and never has been, this leads me to believe, we shouldn’t have let Mauro Zarate go on loan.
And recently there have been rumours flying around about Chelsea pondering a move for Enner Valencia; right now I don’t think that it is right for us as we only have the bare minimum in terms of cover up front. But for £12million I don’t think we have seen enough from him, hopefully it is just because he is new to the style of English football and takes a while to settle in, rather than just a complete flop. I pray that his form turns around because so far I have been vastly unimpressed by Valencia’s performances. There is do denying, his pace and power are brilliant, he frightens defenders, all good strikers have at least one of these attributes, to have all three, you have the potential to be very good footballer, and this is what I hope will happen, with the upcoming move to the Olympic stadium, a top class striker will be what attracts the top players to turn West Ham into a powerhouse in English football.
He has been impressive when he is played in his correct position. Having Nolan on the field disrupts his style. Enner Valencia against Man City/Liverpool/Hull was World Class – we just have a stubborn mule for a manager.
I completely disagree with this article. I think Valencia has a lot of quality and we have the best yet to come. He was a great signing for West Ham.
I agree with the above posts. This article is poor. Enners best football is yet to come. He has all the tools to become truly world class. Hes very young, playing in a foreign country and league is a big step up for him. Give a lad a break, he will definitely come good. Hence Chelsea having a good old sniff!!
Rubbish article,Valencia will be a great player in the premier league,pace,power,allardyce and Nolan out of the club.
Valencia must stay, bfs must go
Do you have memory problems? At the start of the season when Nolan and Carroll were unavailable, Valencia and Sakho were fantastic, team style pace class and goals. Since they returned we are becoming slow and predictable. VALENCIA AND SAKHO SHOULD BE FIRST NAMES ON THE TEAMSHEET. Am not surprised Mourhino [ the most successfull club manager ever] wants Valencia and Sam Alladyce[Not the most successfull club manager ever] does’nt.
Anyone who knows about & has played football, knows it’s ludicrous to talk about selling valencia. It makes me laugh when people say they would take 12 mill for him. & buy whom?
It’s partly because of him that we’re in the position we are. Haven’t you noticed how we’re playing the long ball game again? The stats put us top sadly. The best we have played was early season. Frustrating the opposition & hitting them real quick with 2 pacey forwards. We smashed city & Liverpool. It all went wrong at Chelsea. Carroll & Nolan up against terry & Cahill !!? I do wonder about bfs sometimes
If it wasn’t for us Sam. You’d still have Carroll , Nolan & O’Brian playing on the pitch.
Oh shit, you are!!!!
Jack you have some good points and any one who knows anything about football will have seen that Valencia has been below form in recent games. New players to the Premier often start brightly but then are found out by the opposition and that seems to be the case at present.Let us hope he can respond the right way because he has the speed,skill and determination. Similarly with Song… Great vision and when on song his passing can create chances for our front men need,but again he must be quicker on the ball as recently he often gets unloaded in dangerous positions and tends to slow down our passing game. However give me both players below their best than a fully fit Nolan. This should be our concern as his contribution all season has been negligible to say the least. He runs around ok but seldom tackles and has lost any speed he ever had.I feel sorry for him because he has been a model pro and he must be aware that his best days are now behind him. The problem is that bfs knows this but he is so bloody minded he will continue his selection just to let us,and directors particularly, know who the is the boss.Someone has to do something but don’t hold your breath.
L
HEY, WE WANT AT LEAST 7TH SPOT BACK
Come on West Ham what are you playing at, this is the business end of the season and we need to get cracking. OK, you can be forgiven for losing to Liverpool while nursing injuries, but there is a chance we can get 7th spot back this coming weekend. We had Man Utd on the ropes at Old Trafford, let’s do em’ this weekend, I can just see the heading “Man Utd lose at West Ham” and after the great win that Everton had at Palace on the weekend then I reckon the toffees will win the derby this weekend as well, come this is our turn to win European competition for a change and it’s looking like providing one of the top 7 win the FA Cup that 7th spot will be enough, or we’ll have to win the FA. Cup. Come on, it’s been 15 years since we last qualified for Europe and 35 since last won the FA Cup, we represent the entire eastern half of the nation’s capital, and it’s about time we started winning honors that that position justifies. Don’t let the momentum slip now. COYI