Blind Hammer reflects on Liverpool, closing the gap and whether Zola the Coach could help?
Going into this game we always knew it was going to be tough. Years ago Bill Shankly described top level football as a competitive knife edge. Most matches in the top league start up with both teams battling, teetering on this edge. The key to success is to manage to garner enough quality to force your opposition over this knife edge. Once pushed over this initial precipice momentum to force your way back becomes ever more difficult as you fall away.
This certainly described Sunday’s game. For the first 15 minutes we conceded lots of possession but did compete and threaten occasionally, in particular Byram’s break and shot might, on another day against another goalkeeper have transformed his afternoon. As it was Byram subsequently managed to undo some of the credit he accrued during the Tottenham game and reinforced the need for a quality right back recruitment over the summer.
The first goal was always going to be critical in this match. The Stadium Commentator was at one stage saying that the game needed a goal, any goal. I disagreed as I thought our best prospects came either from a nil-nil or scoring first. As soon as Fonte played Sturridge onside for the first goal I thought it was game over and I suspect deep down this team, denuded of perhaps 6 or 7 players who would reasonably have played ahead of them but for injury felt the same.
Despite this we may, at various times, forced our way back into contention. Ayew’s inexplicable hitting of the post whilst only inches out from goal, the elbowing of Read which should have lead at least to a penalty and possibly a sending off for Liverpool. This could all have changed the pattern of the game. These are the small margins which can affect the outcome of any particular game.
This remote chance that we may have gained perhaps an unlikely point should not blind us to the obvious current gap in quality between Liverpool and ourselves. Antonio has announced his ambitions to play in the Champion’s League with West Ham. To displace one of the top four will require remarkable transformative processes on this current squad.
So what did we learn to aid this transformation? The deficiencies in the team are obvious and I will not repeat them here. What is clear to me is that we cannot compete at the top level with the money to buy in big signings with the expectation of instant success in the manner of say a Manchester City. This means that we need to have an alternative strategy. Bilic certainly needs to recover his touch in identifying talent in the transfer market this summer. We need to again get a quart out of a pint pot.
However I also believe more is needed in club philosophy. If we cannot buy in instant success, and even big money signings can flop, (remember Fernando Torres decline and fall for Liverpool)? Then we may have to plan for deferred success. I think we need to develop some patience, both as a club and as supporters.
I received some criticism last year when I argued in a late season Review post that we should show patience and seek to retain Victor Moses, either by extending the loan or by stumping up the transfer. I thought Moses had done well, given injury in adapting quickly. I thought he and Antonio could have forged a fearsome pacy combination on the right side of our team. I remember people arguing he was not the person to “take us to the next level”. It is interesting that after his departure Payet identified him as the most talented player he had played with at West Ham. Frankly I would have preferred the £20 million spent on Moses rather than Ayew. This was however most definitely a minority viewpoint last summer.
I think further patience now needs to be extended to other members of our Squad. It seems likely that the club are looking to offload Sofiane Feghouli. I see little point in doing this. Feghouli has been an erratic performer who also has had his share of injury problems but he is precisely the sort of X factor player who, after the experience of a season’s “settling in” and getting used to team patterns, could pay some dividends next season. He was certainly one of the few people who emerged with some credit on a torrid afternoon when he came on yesterday. If we sign a Feghouli replacement this will again start the process of a player trying to settle in from scratch.
Having signed Ayew we should again persevere with him, he does not look a £20 million striker yet but he has, despite his miss yesterday, managed to score some vital goals in a struggling team, which has ultimately provided us with survival.
Snodgrass also needs time. Hull were relegated yesterday despite their wriggling like a Salmon in recent weeks. Silva’s masterminding of their recent improvement in form should not disguise the fact that Snodgrass remains even now their leading goal scorer and leader in their assist table. Snodgrass came from one struggling team to another but he should be at least a squad player who should improve the more he becomes familiar with Bilic’s systems and styles. He was inches away from scoring one of the goals of the season yesterday. Small margins again.
So when we embark on the surgery on the squad over the summer we need not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It is unlikely that we will romp into the top 6 next seasons, let alone the top 4. A season without fear of relegation and a Cup run may be our more realistic prospect. If we are to improve the squad over time it will be by player development and patience that we achieve this.
Coaching will be critical to squad development and this has been questioned in recent months. A left field suggestion from me is that we look to offer Gianfranco Zola a specialist coaching role. Zola has sadly now blighted his management career with repeated failure. Tactically Zola is weak in reading games and his management seem very ineffectual. . However there is no doubt in mind that he can individually improve players by working on their skills. Scott Parker benefitted in particular from Zola’s input in the approaching twilight of his career. Carlton Cole had his best improvement with the input of Zola. I personally would be fascinated to see what Zola could make of Jonathan Calleri. Zola is by all accounts a likeable person who the players had enormous respect for in his knowledge of skills and techniques. His amiable personality should assist in helping him assimilate into Bilic’s coaching setup without ruffling feathers. We cannot know how the dynamics and coaching review will play out but if there is room for specialist input from Julian Dicks, then I cannot see why Zola could not also be approached for help. In relation to West Ham at least Zola has a positive player development record. It could be the wisest investment of funds over the summer.
COYI
David Griffith