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Comments
Cullen as third choice and Noble as emergency cover until he retires in summer 2021 (as captain holding the FA Cup aloft for that fairy-tale ending)
We'd be lucky to get half of what we paid for him, so I think there is a chance he stays (remember that teams were linked for him for £60m after his first season, so worth hoping he pulls it together)
GK: Fab, Randolph, Martin & Roberto. Good for right now, may need to look into it after a year. Let Roberto go whatever way that is doesn't matter.
FB: Fredericks, Johnson, Cresswell, Masuaku. Weakest area of the squad. Sell Masuaku (£8m approx.) and get a new LB. Either promote Johnson to first choice or sell Fredericks (£5m) and get a new RB
CB: Oggy, Diop, Balbuena, Reid. Keep Diop unless we get an offer of £40mil or more, he can be big for us. Oggy also to stay. Balbuena can be moved on (£6m) and so can Reid (£2m) if he is a shell of the player he was. New CB needed.
CM: Rice, Soucek, Noble, Cullen. Have to keep Rice and make Soucek permanent. Need another CM though, Noble should be 4th choice. Promote Coventry? Think sell Cullen (£5m)
AM/WG: Fornals, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Yarmo, Bowen, Anderson, Diangana. Hardest area for us as few have consistently impressed. Bowen is key for us. I think Fornals has got potential to show more for us. Snodgrass won't get much for and his versatility (can play CM) and work rate mean he should stay. Yarmo (£8m), Lanzini (£12m) and Anderson (£25m) aren't bad players, but we could get some money for them. I doubt we'd sell all of them, possibly 1. Wouldn't know how much we'd get though or if there is enough interest. Think Anderson is the least likely to leave due to such a big financial hit on his fee. Diangana can cover whoever leaves. If 2 can go we should look at left wingers (don't think AM is a big deal for the way Moyes plays)
FW: Haller, Antonio, Ajeti, Silva, Hugill: Unless we can recoup the fee, keep Haller. Sell Ajeti (£4m), Hugill (£5m) & Silva (£2m) If we can. Obviously need a new CF
Tried to be fair with the prices I would say we shouldn't accept less than, but if we actively need those listed gone we would likely receive even less. We also don't know if we will get ANY sales. If we don't we have to prioritise:
1 - Soucek
2 - Left back
3 - Striker
4 - Hope any of Anderson/Lanzini/Balbuena remember how good they can actually be
So not only do we have a mostly ineffective CF when he's played there, we lose his pace and power from midfield. We need at least 2 CF ahead of him as well as maybe a youngster who will hopefully be ahead of him by the end of next season. He should only be classed emergency cover at CF imo, but G&S will undoubtedly use the performance against Chelsea (which was a 1 in ten 9/10 performance) as an excuse to not buy the strikers we need.
Another striker is the priority alongside fullbacks. Then a left-sided attacker. There are players to sell but I don't think it's smart to offload Anderson or Haller for less than we bought them this season.
To be better next year we need to improve in defence, fullbacks and at least one new CB. I think another CM would help, but I’d rather a striker if I had to pick.
Realistically, we need at least four, probably five players in and around the first team
Soucek does look a very good buy from his last performances...
Priority list for me
1 - Buy Soucek
2 - Sell Masuaku & use that money plus whatever we have left for a new LB
3- Promote Diangana for the LW spot, Johnson for RB
4 - Make calls on Hugill (could he suit Moyes system?), Ajeti and Xande. Whoever (all?) Isn't fancied sell and get a new CF as backup
- - - - - - - - - - - Fab - - - - - - - - - -
Fredricks - Diop - Oggy - New LB
Bowen - Rice - Soucek - Diangana
- - - - - - Antonio - Haller - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - Randy - - - - - - - - -
Johnson - Balbuena - Cordoso - Cressy
Yarmo - Noble - Wilshere - Anderson
- - - - - - - - - Fornals - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - New CF - - - - - - - - -
Obviously I'd like a new CB, RB and CM but COVID has thrown that out the window
Randolph, Masuaku if money is right, Lanzini, Anderson if money is right, maybe Yarmolenko, Ajeti, maybe Haller, Hugill.
Bring in: New backup goalkeeper, left back, right back, maybe a versatile player who can play both CB/DM, 2 out and out strikers who can hold the ball up and/or run behind.
We should definitely buy Soucek and get Diangana in and around the first team.
If we can tighten up the defence and bolster up our squad depth a little, I think we have a pretty solid team and back up options too.
I don’t see the logic in selling Randolph to buy another sub keeper, personally
Regarding buying from the Championship, I'm all for it but I don't think it's always as successful as players like Bowen, Antonio and Cresswell (he was a good signing when we got him in). There's been Hugill and Byram who were completely useless and Fredericks who hasn't been amazing. I'm all for recruiting from the Championship but it has to be very careful because we can end up with even more players who simply aren't good enough and actually aren't even that cheap, a lot of the time.
Don’t disagree with any of that, but I do feel that a fourth centre back is important. We’re an injury or two away from Rice having to play there and that doesn’t suit us at all. Making Cordoso is the answer, but I’ve never seen him play so....
Snodgrass was another I couldn't place
I suspect we may lose 1 of Yarmo, Anderson and Manu...and think Manu makes the most sense on paper
Moyes seems to have the knack of converting wide players into forwards & getting great returns out of them; first Arnie & now Antonio.
I’ve always been critical of Antonio but over the last few games he has been excellent & if we do stay up, I think we can put a lot of that down to his excellent performances at various times of the season.
Tomas Soucek says he wants to make his West Ham move permanent if they stay in the Premier League.
Midfielder Soucek, on loan from Slavia Prague, said: "I am enjoying the Premier League because we play against big teams and I’m enjoying every day on the training ground.
"I’m playing with guys that I’ve played with for four or five months but I’m really enjoying it and, hopefully, we’ll be safe and I will be able to enjoy more years here."