After last week’s column my loyalty towards the claret and blue cause has been put into question by some on here, as I chose to attend a Concordia indoor football tournament, a glorified friendly at that, prior to watching a recording of our cup game against Shrewsbury (instead of watching it live). So this time I made amends and gave Concordia a wide berth the last couple of days (it was only another two indoor tournaments anyway and as I mentioned before, indoor football for me is a lousy surrogate, like nonfat plain yogurt. Or tofu replacing meat).
In addition Concordia had lost another preseason (outdoor) friendly earlier in the week in shockingly lackluster fashion, so I felt that this time it was only right and proper to lend my undivided attention and support to our game at Huddersfield.
Huddersfield of course is a very German affair these days, what with the manager and several players hailing from the country of sausages and sauerkraut. Huddersfield are a club I have a lot of time for, they have a stadium that looks quite distinctive and is immediately recognisable, their fans seem genuine and down to earth and I also haven’t seen their players acting out of order yet, so they are a proper football club in my book, not an easy feat altogether in a rugby first town like Huddersfield.
They are no mugs at home either and when I saw our starting lineup I thought: Well, that’s a bit negative/defensive, innit ? But then again Huddersfield at home are not to be trifled with and I would have regarded a draw a credible result for us. But what do I know!
The way we attacked Huddersfield’s weaknesses was clinical. Wave upon wave of quick passing counter attacking football washed upon them and they just couldn’t handle our concoction of physical strength, pace and flair.
Arnautovic and Lanzini tore them to shreds almost single-handedly, but let’s not forget the vital first goal where we gave Lolley (great name) a moment to forget, trying to control a pass from his goalkeeper, when Arnautovic rushed in and bullied him with not much more than his physical presence and Mr.West Ham nipping in and tucking the ball away as if he was on the Rush Green training pitch and not in the penalty box of the John Smith’s Stadium.
It was like a pride of lions hunting down an impala in a coordinated attack.
Or a group of velociraptors chasing some Hollywood actors.
In any case it was bloody exciting to watch!
In my book we should do this sort of pressing a lot more often. Other teams do it to us and it’s a great way to unsettle the opposition. Granted, it takes a lot of fitness and effort, but it really helps if you don’t give your opponent all the time in the world to calmly control the ball and then ponder what to do with it next.
On that afternoon oop North a lot of things clicked and fell into place for us. Our defense looked mostly solid while playing refreshingly unspectacular. It was good to see Collins back again and he was his usual reliable self. In midfield Kouyate seemed to thrive on having a bit of a free role, with Noble and Obiang cleaning up behind him and Lanzini too looked happy with his role further upfield. It’s vital that these guys feel comfortable in the manager’s system and also develop a bit of chemistry with their teammates.
Long may it continue! That win will not only have boosted our confidence and brought us three valuable points.
It now also means that 15 points out of the remaining 15 games should be enough to cement PL status for next season. As a West Ham fan I am usually taking the pessimistic approach, expecting the worst while hoping for something slightly better, but in this instance even I can’t see a scenario where we don’t get another 15 points this season.
No doubt we will win a few games, we’ll draw some and unfortunately there will be a few more defeats, but we now have several teams behind us that are being sucked into the relegation battle and this can only be good for us. Some of those teams will get nervy, some will crumble under the pressure, some will bounce back.
We may not be out of the woods yet, but from where we are we can already see the road and a bit of horizon beyond the last line of trees so to speak. It was only one win of course, but it got me thinking about what I would really wish to happen and what hasn’t really happened at West Ham throughout our history.
Once things begin to improve for us, with better performances and results on the pitch on a consistent basis, I would really love to see us build on that.
Meaning to pick three or four players we consider to be the backbone of our squad (say Arnautovic, Lanzini, Rice and Ogbonna, to pick some names for the purpose of argument). Then put ridiculous release clauses in their contracts that ensure that only ridiculous offers can prise them away. Then, and this is the important bit, show your backbone star players it’s actually worth it to stay on at project West Ham by adding quality players, gradually, one (or two) every summer (or January, if a decent opportunity should present itself). That’s how you build a team, that’s how you establish the club as a force to be reckoned with and that’s how you climb the table and get your fanbase onside at the same time.
It costs money of course, but if you do it properly eventually those transfers will pay for themselves and then some.
William Carvalho would be such a quality addition. Or Leander Dendoncker, a young defensive midfielder from the Anderlecht production line of footballing prospects.
22 years old, 1.88m tall and strong as an ox, he covers a position that has been a weak spot for us for several seasons now. Apparently he is available for a reasonable fee of 25 million quid, reasonable in today’s crazy market that is.
Scouts are fairly certain that Dendoncker will become a very strong player, a standout midfielder in fact, capable to play in any league which would result in his market value and potential transfer fee rising. So it might be a shrewd move to step in now and sign him up, if there is a chance. Scouts have been praising his strength in the tackle, his willingness to go into challenges with the right degree of aggressiveness to be a nuisance to the opposition. He reads the game well, has a good right foot and is also a fairly decent option at CB, if need be. His physical attributes make him a perfect fit for the Premier League and I would expect him to rock up on English shores sooner rather than later.
As for rumours for other incoming players in January we might be seeing Russian striker Fyodor Smolov replace Diafra Sakho. Smolov is rumoured to be available for 15 million and his agent is also on good terms with West Ham apparently, so this might be a goer. For me it’s a no brainer. If Sakho wants away we need to cash in and replace him. Smolov has been Krasnodar’s most important and consistent player and reading up on him a lot of scouts consider him to be the best striker in Russia.
He’s tall (1.87m) and strong and at 27 years of age his best years should still be ahead of him.
He can play upfront, but is also an option on either wing. His main assets are keeping hold of the ball, dribbling, long shots and freekicks. But most importantly he is a clinical finisher. With that in mind he sounds like a more than capable replacement for Sakho.
As we can now breathe a bit more easily in the league we should give the FA Cup the proper respect it deserves. By all means, reward some youngsters with some well deserved gametime. I would expect guys like Rice, Burke, Cullen and Byram to start (with Shrewsbury boy Hart between the sticks of course), but make no mistake: We need some experienced heads out there too and we can not afford to take Shrewsbury lightly. It’s another potential banana skin for us, but on paper we have more than enough to beat them of course.
As their confidence must be skyhigh I would even contemplate giving Arnautini a runout for 60 minutes or so. What I don’t want is players on the pitch who are not up for it.
The FA Cup and the opposition deserve respect and every single player who gets the chance to play should bust a gut.
As the game will probably not be on telly anywhere I might have to rely on text updates. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing our team continue to grow together.
And then to be improved even further by adding a quality signing or two…COYI!!!