After our initiation, we went through an excellent period as a team and over the following six seasons had three or four very decent strikers. Unfortunately, due to injury and other reasons we then went through a period where we lost our strike force and ended up with some poor players up front. All of a sudden the goals dried up and results turned sour. Not only were we now not scoring but we were letting in a lot more goals. Our goalkeeper and defence were still the same and if anything the midfield had been strengthened slightly. The defeats were becoming worse and worse and even more goals were shipped as we got relegated.The next season was even worse again.
The reason I may bore you with my past footballing life is that it is my belief, based on my own experiences, that this is what is happening to West Ham (though hopefully not the relegation). It is not just the lack of goals it is the lack of hold up play and running the channels, it is also the way opposing teams can play against you when you lack potency. The least amount you offer in attack the more the oppositions confidence rises and the more they can take control of the game. Man Utd on both occasions they played us, played such a high pressing game against us we reverted to Randolph or Adrian booting the ball up the field, a tactic that offered little to no threat to their defence. We were then unable to build up any meaningful play at all. When we have made breaks from defence and had three on threes or three on twos, the front men without the ball are making the wrong runs for the man with the ball. Zaza is completely lost with or without the ball as shown by his late and eventually poor pass to Payet against Spurs which should have resulted in us going 3-1 ahead. Fletcher was no better in the Cup game, after Feghouli had been sent clear by Payet in the 12th minute, Fletcher originally made the correct run to the left of Feghouli which gave him an option, only then to slow up and run behind Feghouli which not only slowed him up but completely took away any second option and the defence cleaned up. There are so many examples but these two sprang to mind the most in a season where our main strikers have offered very little in the way of good movement or enterprise.
If your strikers are completely impotent it can have a dramatic effect on the way the whole team shapes up. The last three games have seen us have awful possession stats. Teams can win games with low possession rates I hear you say, but not if your strikers can’t score goals. Sakho has played two games this season after a long break, for a total of about two hours football for one goal. With him on the field we were drawing in both games at Spurs and Man Utd, despite the possession stats. He offered something that no other striker has offered us before this season. I know the defence has looked at sixes and sevens at times this season but I really do believe that the problem lies further up field and it is there that it has had a compound effect on the rest of the team. Our best two defensive performances this season have been whilst Sakho was on the field?
Brian Clough was a terrific football manager and he said that to build a great team you must get your defence right first and build from the back. I think football has changed nowadays and teams and players are so much more fitter and technically well drilled that this is not the case anymore. Back in “Old Big Heads” day England (or a team of comparable standing) would beat Australia, Norway or Finland by six or more goals. Today you would take a one goal victory as everyone is so much harder to beat, even the well organised minnows. But the one thing there is a real shortage of, and that is why they are worth so much money, is a very good striker. So Mr Sullivan, if you think changing Mr Zaza’s loan term will save you buying a decent goal scorer in January, think again. The money saved may be all in vain. It really is sad that in real terms we have two excellent strikers already at the club that just can’t get over their injury issues. But in my opinion, if we get Sakho or Carroll back for any length of time, or indeed break the bank for a proven goal scorer who stays fit, our season will turn around in no time. Anything different and we are in real trouble.
My article is based on past experiences and what I see as a football fan without any statistical data. Do you agree or disagree?