With under three weeks to go before the new season starts and five weeks before the transfer window shuts, let’s have a look at what has happened so far regarding transfer ins and outs at West Ham. On the goalkeeping front, should Hamburg Hammer be right and Adrian is off to pastures new, it would mean that all three of our keepers from last season have been shifted out. Whilst Spiegel was never a strong contender for first team action, Darren Randolph was our first choice keeper for much of last season due to some erratic early performances from Adrian and I think the fee we got for him from Boro was pretty good business considering we got him on a free. Personally, I will be disappointed if Adrian was not still a West Ham player come the end of this window. From our defensive list from last season only Arbeloa has gone. In midfield Nordtveit and Tore have left and up front Calleri and Valencia have been removed off the wage bill. It is still likely that Feghouli will be shipped out as well but I am becoming more and more convinced that Robert Snodgrass will be a Hammer for the upcoming season. I have not included any youngsters (Oxford etc) being loaned out or discarded as the object of this article is to ask you what your opinion is of our best eleven this coming season?
So with the likely eventuality that the quantity of players leaving the club will be seven or more, on the other side of the ledger we have signed four players so far with the likelihood that there is still one or two lesser additions on the radar. The incoming Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, Arnie and Chico are all players that are likely to be strongly considered for our best eleven – or are they? What do you think? If you were Slav and you had to name what our best starting eleven is, playing in the best formation to suit, regardless of opposition or any special match day tactics, what would it be? No sitting on the fence now, no hyphens, brackets or slashes because you can’t decide between certain players, what eleven players would you choose if they are all fit and well?
For what it is worth – here is mine.
Two of the early decisions Bilic will have to make are not directly influenced by any new arrivals. The first one is at left back. Neither of our options are perfect, in fact I must admit to having hoped that Liverpool would sign Cresswell and we would get the player they signed, Hull’s Andy Robertson. He is pretty much a complete left wing back and I am sure he will shine on Merseyside. However, in the real World we have Cresswell and Masuaku. “Mas” did enough when he got his chance towards the latter half of last season to convince me he is our better option. Very tidy on the ball and rarely gives it away, he also appears better at closing opposition players down and blocking crosses. He is still only 23 and has a great deal of potential. Cresswell enjoyed a very good 15/16 season when working in tandem with Payet, but his commitment to tackling, especially since his injury, is a real weakness. Masuaku for me but I do think Bilic will start with Cresswell when the season opens. He does like to stick with incumbents and this was most evident when he took so long to admit defeat on the Antonio right back project and also playing Randolph for so long last season when clearly Adrian was worth a second chance . The other decision is one that was becoming evident last season when Obiang found his feet and blossomed into a very decent Premier League player. How do you fit Noble, Kouyate and Obiang into the same team? When faced with the problem last season Bilic moved Kouyate to full back – a move I am sure will not happen again this season. An injury to Obiang eventually relieved the selection pressure on Bilic last season and an injury to Kouyate recently will mean it is a not a decision the manager will have to face at the very start of this season. Unless we have a succession of injuries to all three players though, it is a selection problem Bilic will have to face again and I guess current form will dictate which way he goes?
If record signing Arnautovic is to be played wide left does that mean Lanzini plays more central this season? And then what happens to Ayew? At least he can play left, right and central and he will be an invaluable squad player once the inevitable injuries and suspensions occur. New signing Chico Hernandez is another interesting one. Working in tandem with wide players Antonio and Arnie is a pretty decent prospect but in games where we are under the pump Chico is not exactly a “hold the ball up” type of player. If both players are 100% fit would you choose him or Andy Carroll or perhaps Sahko? Following on from Sean’s article yesterday about Carroll, I think many of us share his frustration. However, if he is fit and firing would you choose him in our best line up? I have despite the sick note frustrations and to be honest it was harder to choose him over Sakho than Chico – simply because I am not totally convinced about our new arrival. Whilst not a bad piece of business, especially at the price, I do wonder whether the hype has got the better of reality? I hope I am wrong but I want to see him doing the business for West Ham before I get over excited. In all my examples, all the aforementioned players could indeed play together as a varied amount of formations could be utilised. However, somewhere along the line there are going to be players that miss out. Which ones?
There are lots of headaches for Bilic this season in keeping such an in depth squad all happy. They will all want to play. Long may those headaches continue as the last thing we want is another season in the top four on “Physio Room” making the bosses selection process any easier! It does look a very good squad, especially when you look at my best team when it does not include Adrian, Byram, Fonte, Cresswell, Collins, Fernandes, Snodgrass, Chico, Sakho or Ayew. On top of that we have the youngsters in Quina, Rice, Cullen, Martinez and Holland all waiting their chances.
Good luck with picking your best team. I think we can look forward to this season with great optimism.