Finally another new signing to get excited about – and finally a reason to write something, allowing me to put out my column again. Bringing in Pablo Fornals is fantastic on many levels. The way it happened was, by the looks of it, straightforward, without ITKs discussing the move weeks on end. I suppose rumours only really started to bubble up to the surface once the deal was pretty much done and dusted. It’s refreshing to see business at our club being done in such a professional and efficient manner.
It’s also encouraging that our Director of Football, Mario Husillos, obviously knows exactly what we’re getting with Fornals. He used to work with the player at Malaga and both Husillos and Pellegrini apparently have monitored the progress of Fornals closely in recent times.
Fornals, by all accounts, is a highly promising prospect, with age very much on his side, but also, according to Pellegrini, a good person to have in the dressing room which obviously is another crucial factor when picking your targets.
Looking at his interview below, Fornals seems certainly like a young man with ambition and skill, but also with his head firmly screwed on, more interested in helping the team rather than just boosting his own goals and assists tally, that will surely take pretty much care of itself, once he has started to develop some chemistry with his teammates.
Of course I have watched highlight reels of him, but frankly they don’t mean a lot. I could watch ten hours worth of material on him on Youtube, and still be none the wiser.
These clips can be very cleverly edited, with fancy hip-hop beats added for dramatic effect, still they can be somewhat misleading (even Julien Faubert looked the nuts on Youtube). I doubt though that Husillos and Pellegrini have chosen Fornals on the strength of a few clips they found online, their scouting will have been thorough and regular, so if they have given the deal the thumbs up, I’m all for it.
So, what are we likely to get then ? An attacking midfielder whose best position is in central midfield, in the #10 role ideally, but he can also switch to the wing, if need be.
He’s a great dribbler apparently, strong on the ball, but also not afraid to win back the ball either in his own half, putting in a tackle, or by pressing the opposition in theirs by chasing them relentlessly.
So, essentially a winner of the ball, a keeper of the ball and also a distributor of the ball. The latter seems to be his strongest selling point really, finding the lethal pass, either to the wing or as a through ball to the striker, just seconds before the ball bulges the net.
He doesn’t score many himself, but that’s not really his role. He sounds like the kind of player I love though, a player who feels at his best when he makes his teammates shine and perform better. Someone who will not rake in the plaudits for his goalscoring but who will happily have a hand (or rather foot) in most moves leading to goals for his side.
I cannot wait to see what he can do for us, our little Spaniard (Pablo is Spanish for Paul or Paulus, meaning “little”).
But where does that leave Manuel Lanzini ? There are only so many shirts available for central midfielders in our starting XI, but Pellegrini has already confirmed he wants to see both on the pitch at the same time if possible – and the prospect of seeing both of them terrorising opposition defenders with their tricks and flicks is mouth-watering.
Apparently Lanzini wants a new deal, with better terms, paritiy even with the highest earners at the club, if you believe certain sources. Which is perfectly understandable from Lanzini’s standpoint. He’s just returning from a potentially career-threatening injury, his contract is coming to an end soon, and he obviously wants the best in terms of financial security for his family.
For the club, on the other hand, you don’t want to run the risk of dishing out a new five year deal on high-wages when you cannot quite be sure how his knee will be holding up when playing more games in succession again. Make no mistake, Lanzini in top form is a player you want on the pitch, playing for your colours, period!
I can see a compromise solution being found here, a deal with better terms and certain incentives or contract extensions kicking in if Lanzini has proven he can play and perform regularly again.
Saying that though, every player can be replaced and should Lanzini overplay his hand, starting to hurl toys out of his pram left, right and center, then I’d reluctantly sell him.
Either way, the transfer business will now begin to pick up pace, with players like Obiang, Hernandez, Oxford, Hugill, Ogbonna and Byram likely to depart while we will surely sign at least one striker, another defensive midfielder and probably another CB. Exciting times, folks!
I have heard that we will monitor several players during the Copa America and that’s where Husillos and Pellegrini will come in handy again. We are certainly picking up some great players at bargain prices from the Spanish-speaking world. As we already have some Spanish-speakers in our squad this will also help any new arrivals during the process of settling into their new surroundings in London. I expect Fornals not needing a lot of time to adjust really and he might just surprise us all by hitting the ground running.
Talking briefly about women’s football again, while the World Cup is still on, I wanted to post some highlight clips from the internet, yes, the ones that can be misleading at times.
In this case I do not put up them clips in order to push certain people to like or appreciate the women’s game against their will, that’s not even possible, not by linking a few online videos anyway.
But what it hopefully will do is prove that women can essentially do everything with a football that their male counterparts can do as well.
There are more great male players out there simply because currently more men play football than women, but the best women footballers are a joy to watch for any connoisseur of the beautiful game, same as the top players doing their thing in the men’s game.
The above highlights are from Dzsenifer Marozsan who is currently the best German player (with Hungarian roots) and I would hazard a guess that she could even teach some of the West Ham first team a thing or two in training.
The other clip below shows skills from various players, skills that even the likes of Messi and Ronaldo would applaud.
I am a football fan first and foremost – and if I see a great move, crowned by a fantastic goal, I don’t care if the player in question has a womb or not, I appreciate the skill to shoot or pass a ball, that’s it.
If football fans cannot praise a footballing skill only because it comes from a woman, I can only shake my head in disbelief and move on. They showed some interview excerpts recently on German telly from the Seventies, with really famous German players and managers at the time, not being shy to voice their opposition and disdain over women playing football.
One even said there were so many lovely different sports for women to choose from, so they shouldn’t pick football and leave that up to the men.
Not the strongest of arguments methinks.
Ah well, they used to say the same about women’s right to vote, to drive a car or run a business, I presume…and look where we are now in that respect.
Football in Hamburg is still in its summer break, so just two brief mentions. The Cordi U23s have managed to switch divisions. They are still at the same league level, but will now face more local teams in Hamburg’s East End neighbourhood, rather than venturing out far into the south-eastern suburbs as they had to do last season. So this is nice and it will provide plenty of derbies, highly attractive for both players and fans.
And on a personal level I have positives to report from my brother: His most recent blood tests came back with very positive results as ALL markers and parameters are how they should be, at levels comparable to your average, healthy person. Which, of course, has been a total relief to me.
I cheer any new signing that arrives at West Ham, obviously, but it’s still quite a different reaction compared to what I felt when my brother was telling me his good news.
COYI!!!