First things first, there wasn’t loads to write home about in terms of West Ham United in the week just gone, but the major, yet not really surprising bit of news was the confirmation that midfielder Pedro Obiang had indeed returned to Italy to lace his boots for Sassuolo in future. I couldn’t begin my column without thanking Pedro for the games and memories he has given us during his West Ham reign. Yes, he scored THAT screamer against Spurs (always a surefire way for a player to get brownie points and potential legend status at West Ham), but apart from that one goal he was your model professional footballer, with a bloody nice personality added on top.
By all accounts he was popular with his teammates, always friendly, modest and respectful towards the fans and he instinctively knew HOW to leave our club once he had made up his mind about returning home to Italy.
No dressing room destroying diva-style shenanigans, no dodgy quotes given to the media in order to force through a hasty move to his desired location, no. Instead we had some kind of gentleman’s agreement that he would stay another season while we couldn’t afford to lose him – and one year later Obiang got his desired move without West Ham haggling for a ridiculous fee that might have put any move back to Italy in jeopardy.
Thanks for everything Pedro, I think I am speaking for most on here when I say that Obiang will always be welcome at West Ham, should that be as a fan, a future opponent (Europa League ?) or maybe even as youth coach.
Despite certain rumours that Pellegrini was satisfied with the squad presently at his disposal and that there wasn’t any money left for new players anyway, other rumours are clearly saying the opposite, claiming we would definitely bring in another striker and also a versatile defensive midfielder who can also deputise in defence if need be. And of course there is always room for a mystery player, arriving from the Ecuadorian top division, either as a freebie or on loan…
One name that keeps getting mentioned in terms of potentially being bound for Stratford, is Chilean hardman/nutter Gary Alexis Medel Soto. Nicknamed “The Pitbull” for his aggressive make-no-prisoners style of play and some off-field episodes displaying a low tolerance of frustration, Medel is a proper beast of a player, surely one you’d rather want to play on your team rather than seeing him charging at you at full speed, face distorted, studs showing, putting in tackles Vinnie Jones would have been proud of in his heyday.
Some fans categorically don’t want Medel at West Ham, and I can see the worries involved here. A player with a reputation like Medel’s, with a flaring temper, can do your club more harm than good. But let’s not forget that Medel is Chilean and has been a staple for their national side. So if there’s anyone who can evaluate if Medel would be a good fit for West Ham at this point, it should be his fellow countryman, our gaffer Manuel Pellegrini.
At just shy of 32 years of age (his birthday is August 3rd) Medel is vastly experienced, he’s been there, done a lot, probably got all the T-shirts too. You don’t get to play over 120 times for your country if you can’t play football. He has plied his trade in various countries, Italy, England and also Turkey (he’s currenty at Besiktas). So he ain’t shy adapting to new surroundings.
Yes, he is prone to the odd sending-off, in 376 games he has seen 3 straight red cards plus 8 second yellows – that’s an early shower after every 30 games or so on average, not good, but not the end of the world either.
What he does give you in return for that, though, is a tremendous work-rate and tenacity. He can also tackle and would be another leader on the pitch, similar to Balbuena or Noble in that regard. His reputation, actually, might even be an asset for his next team. As an opponent you’ll be very aware when Gary Medel is zooming in on you, he doesn’t even have to tackle necessarily, just the thought of him putting in a hefty challenge might be enough to frighten the opponent into giving the ball away carelessly or passing it back to his goalkeeper as a safety precaution to avoid Medel. I for one wouldn’t mind to see the Chilean reincarnation of Repka at West Ham and he also seems to be in the right price bracket too as he wouldn’t cost a fortune at this stage.
Another name you hear a lot these days in connection with West Ham is Moussa Marega, a Malian striker, nicknamed the Terminator. Presumably not because he has an Austrian accent, but due to his force and impact in the opposition’s box. Marega is a late bloomer, it wasn’t that long ago that he was scoring his goals for a club at the French 6th level. By now though he has become a regular in the Malian national side and has also got a taste of CL football with Porto.
In Julian Dicks we had a Terminator before, so if Marega is only half the player for us than Dicks was, we can look forward to quite a player!
West Ham, of course, were interested in signing Marega before and he won’t come cheap. What might be possible though, if Pellegrini is really keen on getting the player, is a loan deal with an option or, more likely, an obligation to buy next summer. The good thing is that Marega can play as part of a dynamic front three or also just behind the main striker.
Built like a brick shithouse, he is hard to stop by legal means for any defender, he is equally adept at heading the ball, finishing and playing lethal passes.
28 years old, Marega’s best years should still be ahead of him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him at West Ham, causing havoc upfront with Haller, Anderson and Antonio.
That should be fun…;-))
With every week that passes, the West Ham Women’s team seem to confirm yet another decent addition to the squad, this time French attacking midfielder Kenza Dali who will celebrate her 28th birthday on Wednesday. She’s been on the fringes of the French national side as well in recent years, scoring 4 goals in 22 games so far for her country.
Despite not winning the title with PSG, she still was part of one of the top sides in France until 2015, scoring 33 times in 82 games, so far the most prolific spell in her career. After that she played for Lyon, Lille and most recently Dijon, so you can tell she’s mustard…(see what I did there ? LOL)
Just as her namesake, Salvador Dali, was an artist with brush on canvas or sculptures made of bronze, Kenza Dali is an artist with the ball at her feet.
She is the third highly promising signing for the West Ham Women’s team and one would expect the ladies to become a much better side now, potentially maybe even a side to be reckoned with next season, a dark horse to spoil things for the usual suspects, we’ll see. I cannot wait to see them in action myself.
A quick word on the Fulham preseason game on Saturday. It was great for the new boys Haller and Fornals to finally get their debuts for West Ham against decent opposition. With Lanzini scoring a fine goal apparently in our 1:0 win.
I say apparently as I didn’t see the game, not even highlights, like most of you I guess. But it was valuable gametime for various players and there were no new injuries to report, so mission accomplished for now. COYI!!!
Hamburg football update: Finally, the new season proper has now started for most clubs in Hamburg with the league calendar kicking off.
Hamburg SV have started their season under new manager Dieter Hecking with a game against their bogey side Darmstadt, drawing 1:1 with a late penalty equaliser deep into injury time.
St.Pauli will play their first fixture later this evening at Arminia Bielefeld.
All three main Concordia teams have been in action yesterday.
The Cordi first team started their league fixtures with a home game against recently promoted Bramfeld, winning 2:0 in unspectacular fashion. As no other team managed a win by a bigger margin in their first league game the Cordi boys are officially (and unexpectedly) the first table toppers this season. Maybe I should print out the table, get it enlarged and framed nicely and hang it on my living-room wall…;-)
The Cordi U23s also played at home first, against TuS Hamburg, winning 4:0. Great start for them into the new season!
And finally the Cordi Women’s team had another preseason game against local rivals Berne, losing 1:3, but gaining valuable on-pitch experience while improving their fitness levels.
What was really nice last week was the Concordia club president texting me, asking if I was actually paying for the match tickets at home games. I replied to him that I did, as a matter of principle, and that I was happy enough to do so. He was having none of it though, saying that I shouldn’t have to pay as I was regularly providing content for the club’s matchday programme. So he made sure there was a free season ticket waiting for me at the turnstile, prior to kickoff, which means I now only have to pay for the away games. Good man!
That leaves me with an opportunity to give some of my ticket money saved to the women’s team instead. They are always grateful for donations in order to buy new balls for practise, shin pads or training gear. As you can imagine, they are not exactly swimming in cash at Concordia, especially as far as the women’s team is concerned…