Pre Season

IronHerb

ASLEFshrugged said:

Gotta agree with Ham

At the end of the season we were playing Noble in the hole with Rice and Soucek behind him, his days as a DM are pretty much over. Wilshere isn't much of a DM and Fornals most definitely isn't so today we started with a midfield of three "hole" players.

But Noble and Wilshere are unlikely to start together so not so much of a problem.

Expat_Hammer

IronHerb said:

ASLEFshrugged said:

Gotta agree with Ham

At the end of the season we were playing Noble in the hole with Rice and Soucek behind him, his days as a DM are pretty much over. Wilshere isn't much of a DM and Fornals most definitely isn't so today we started with a midfield of three "hole" players.

But Noble and Wilshere are unlikely to start together so not so much of a problem.

Hopefully not. Maybe it's time for Nobes to start playing bit parts, leaving Deccers to become captain.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

From what I watched I thought we passed the ball well and looked good. I must be alone.

IronHerb

Maybe you're just a glass half full typeof guy Jorderz.....

jay_in_cpt

Well I didn't watch the game, but I'm half full of a good booze up..Freezing cold in Cape Town so some nice Whisky has warmed me up....but on a more serious note , what's this with Antonio injury? any further news....

yoyo

I fear , with the squad we have, we're 2 injuries away from another relegation scrap

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes said:

From what I watched I thought we passed the ball well and looked good. I must be alone.

I'm the same, thought we looked good on the ball and had some nice interplay

Didnt think Noble & Wilshere worked together but as someone said I dont think that we will ever see them both together without at least 1 of Soucek and Rice there. Also think Cullen looked good

Diangana was always willing to take on his attacker as well, and Noble always knew that he was an outball

Dont think Yarmo will start over Bowen, but its nice to know we have a player with a real killer instinct off the bench, where I think he will be used the most

Antonio going off injured is a huge worry, but hopefully its minor

I dont think Haller is ever going to be a guy that presses for 90 minutes or work the channels, but saw a lot of good interplay from him and thought he was putting in a lot of effort which is encouraging

Beating a dead fish here but LB is where it's at, Cresswell was awful (cant get over that cross) and Masuaku not much better, and Johnson was much better than Fredericks who at this point is a back up option

Whitehorsehammer

You are not alone Jorderz, lots of negativity on here today, imagine if we had lost to a Championship team.

Fortuneseeker

Whitehorsehammer, I like to call it being realistic more than being negative. ok

baracks_a_hammer

I thought we passed it very well overall too. Problem was, once we had no forwards on the pitch, there was nowhere to go

steve

Any news on Diop and snogers

Lukerz

Any news on Antonio’s injury? Where was he holding? Not hamstring again?

baracks_a_hammer

His hip area

whupathman

was it 1-1 rl got in the way, just as well it seems?

Lukerz

2-1 Hammers (Yarmo, Soucek)

whupathman

ta a win is a win #momentum

OutcastLondoner

Yeoldhammer said:

Don't see the fuss about Rico Henry looks good going forward, looks a bit suspect at the back. Sounds very much like Fredericks when we first got him.

I still think that’s an improvement.

And I actually think Fredericks is very weak going forward. No bravery and wastes the great positions he gets into (which can 100% be coached). Going back, his pace makes him quite good at recovering.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Problem is Cresswell is pretty suspect going forward and going back

Henry may be a bit suspect defensively, but for the type of price range we are shopping in I'd be very surprised wed get a player who can do both

He looks very good going forward, is young, relatively cheap and has the pace to recover when he does make an error

I'm no scout so my knowledge of left backs is very limited outside the Prem, but he looks like hed be an upgrade

Whether we are actually interested or not remains the case

OutcastLondoner

Modern full backs can barely called defenders anyway

Lukerz

Reading all these posts about Henry, sounds just like an identical player to Masuaku.

alderz

Watching the highlights, and it stood out to me how little Anderson seems to have done in pre season so far. He played a nice ball into Antonio in the build up to the second goal, but once he played it he kind of just stood there, 50 yards from goal. On the other flank if that had been Bowen he’d have played the ball and then bombed up the line. I’m very worried by Anderson’s apparent lack of desire, because he is a very talented player but I just can’t see how he will recapture his form at the moment.

Barney

Anderson rarely tackles as well. he certainly has gone backwards and may just not be interested in being here

Cuz1

Andy Carroll scores again two in two might be worth a punt 😂😂

Lukerz

Alderz 👍 for me, of all the players we would want to shift, he should be the main one.

I think Lanzini etc still have an opportunity here to alter their futures, but Anderson I think has been off it for 18 months & has shown very little in pre season. With Diangana, Bowen, Antonio, Yarmolenko: I would rather all of them ahead of Anderson.

OldCastleSwift

He wasn't interested for much of last season, and he hasn't shown much more in what I've seen of him so far in pre-season.

It's a shame that our budget is entirely dependent on shifting one of or a combination of Anderson, Lanzini and Rice, because only one of them commands a top fee, and he's the one we desperately want to keep.

I know it would be a loss, but I'd take £20m for Anderson if it meant a couple of defenders coming in. I just don't think his head or his heart are at West Ham, but unfortunately for us his retirement fund is, so I can't see him pushing for a move any time soon.

baracks_a_hammer

There was one passage of play late in the game when Anderson picked up the ball and literally flew past the last defender to see him in on goal and he shot at the keeper.

The ability is there in abundance, that’s what is so frustrating. But he doesn’t show the desire to consistently take on and torment opposition defenders like Antonio does.

Lukerz

I think it is totally reasonable to expect to shift players before you sign any more. We have a full squad. We can’t sign 3/4 players & risk not selling others as we will end up naming a 25 man squad with 3/4 top earners not included in the PL list & sitting in the reserves. Financially ridiculous. Not to mention spending £50m & not getting any money in from sales, plus the lack of matchday revenue now.

My frustration is not with this transfer window. I am nowhere near as annoyed as many other fans appear to be on social media etc. My annoyance is with how we spent the money we had the last two years. We did not address key areas & signed two many flair players for big fees, whilst ignoring the full-backs & central area.

baracks_a_hammer

Well the decision to take on a well past it manager looking for a retirement nest egg and a transfer guru who had just previously flopped spectacularly lay squarely with the owners IMO.

Lukerz

baracks - in hindsight, yeah. I agree.

What I am saying is that this window in isolation, I cannot blame them for not spending. They clearly don’t have the cash.

So sell up, is what most will say. Well like anything, that’s fine, but we need a buyer first.

ASLEFshrugged

baracks_a_hammer said:

Well the decision to take on a well past it manager looking for a retirement nest egg and a transfer guru who had just previously flopped spectacularly lay squarely with the owners IMO.

I doubt if Pellegrini regarded the West Ham manager's job as "a retirement nest egg", he must have been on a hefty salary in China along with having already been on big bucks at Real Madrid and Man City.

Last month he signed a 3-year contract with Real Betis which can hardly be the most lucrative position and suggests he still wants to manage. If he was only after the money it's more likely he would have stayed in China.