Opinion from the stands

Will West Ham struggle in this area next season?

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Diafra Sakho

There is no doubt that things are looking rosy for the future of West Ham United with the appointment of an exciting forward thinking manager, plus the signings of young, hungry players looking to make their mark in the Premier League.

To be fair the club made some outstanding signings of younger players last year as well with Sam Allardyce at the helm and it is so pleasing for us fans to see the progression in the last couple of summer transfer windows.

The squad already has an extremely solid defensive look about it with the additions of Ogbonna, Jenkinson on-loan again for another season and the young Scot, Stephen Hendrie to provide much needed cover for Aaron Cresswell at left back. Pedro Obiang adds more power and athleticism to the midfield in what could be an exceptional partnership with Kouyate. Maybe the back up right-back slot is still one area that Slaven Bilic could look at but Joey O’Brien is still at the club and can hopefully provide dependable back up this year if anything happens to Jenkinson.

A solid dependable base is what all decent teams are built around and we have that base but where are the goals going to come from? There simply are not enough goal scorers in this squad as it stands and it worries me.

Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia are the main fit strikers at the moment who had an excellent partnership going last year but Valencia didn’t score enough, Sakho suffers from back problems and may also suffer from ‘second season syndrome’ which happens to a lot of strikers when their surprise factor runs out after an exceptional first season in the Premier League.

I do think Sakho is a natural goal scorer though and will score the required goals if he stays fit and I also think that Valencia will have benefited a lot from last year’s physical struggles at times. Hopefully he will have worked hard at that side of his game and then we see a top player. Then we have Mauro Zarate who is still very much an enigma and we just don’t know what we are going to get with him.

I have already spoken in a previous article about what a wonderful talent Dimitri Payet is and he will certainly be the main supplier as well as contributing his fair share of goals from midfield but he has a lot on his shoulders. I must confess that I have never seen Manuel Lanzini play but I’ve got a feeling that he might take quite a while to adapt, going by past young South American’s coming to the Premier League for the first time. It even took Carlos Tevez almost an entire season to hit top form.

The rumoured arrival of teenage Croatian playmaker Alen Halilovic from Barcelona is unbelievably exciting as he is a player with potential to reach the top but again it might take time for him to settle in as he is very slight like Lanzini. The physical side of the Premier League might swallow him up to begin with. If that signing does go through though, it could be one of the greatest signings we have made given enough time to prove his worth, which I am certain he would be given.

Kevin Nolan was an excellent goal scoring midfielder in his day but he is surely a spent force at this level now. Mark Noble doesn’t get many, Obiang only has 4 goals in his career and Kouyate doesn’t get many either, although he has shown he is capable when in the box.

I’m not being negative, I am just raising a few question marks and it is clear that we must sign a recognised top level goal scorer in the next few weeks that can also be a focal point for the team after Carroll was ruled out until at least October. It’s an absolute must we get someone in with pedigree after watching the pre-season games so far, especially the struggles against Birkirkara, who are only the third best team in Malta.

The main striker to be brought in now surely has to be Charlie Austin from recently relegated Queens Park Rangers.

Even if we get someone in the mould of Austin I think that Bilic really has to challenge other players to get goals from other areas on the pitch too. All the centre-backs that play need to chip in with more goals. Reid and Tomkins are capable but they need to be set a target of getting 8 goals between them this season. Ogbonna only has 1 goal in his career to date. Julian Dicks is now on the coaching staff and scored many goals from defence himself as we all know and maybe he can help as I remember him being a force in the air from corners too.

Going back to Kouyate, I think he has the potential to get around 8 league goals from midfield if he is encouraged. With Obiang and Noble performing defensive duties, someone needs to make lung busting runs on occasions beyond Payet when the Frenchman is on the ball. He is also a force in the air and I’d like to see him make the same runs when the ball is out wide in the final third because we know that Jenkinson and especially Cresswell can provide excellent quality from those areas.

So there’s a few concerns from me about where enough goals are going to come from at the moment but if we sign Halilovic, Austin and get more out of the players from last year when it comes to finding the net which is the holy grail of football, then we are looking in excellent shape going into the new season.

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3 comments

  • TRB says:

    If you’re not being negative…..don’t raise stupid Q’s. Instead, look at the bigger picture. When you do that you won’t feel the fear.

  • carl says:

    I agree that the strikers may seem a little lightweight, but sakho and Valence are both good players and I doubt we’d find players of better quality for a reasonable price

    The problem I see is getting the supply to them. Central midfield is covered but our midfielder are all defensive minded, a lot of our creativity last year came from downing who left and our full backs.

    Payet is important for us, will help link up the squad and hopefully give our strikers enough supply. Think miralles would be a great signing, and will hit the ground unlike lanzini who I agree might take a while to get up to speed

    Im super excited if the young Barcelona guy signs, him Samuelson can act as enough midfield reinforcement imo

    • Philtheiron says:

      I think you are spot on mate.
      Everybody it seems has been concentrating on our only having one recognised goal scorer and the need to strengthen our striking options.
      This has led to our problems of creativity from midfield being largely overlooked. It hasn’t helped that the departure of downing wasn’t seen as a problem due to the supposed arrival of cabaye.
      Imo the problem is there may not be enough money to purchase quality in both positions.
      Hense the preoccupation with finding a striker.

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