West Ham recruitment and general grumbling

RexRichard

I would expect them to go for Daniel Samek maybe to replace rice because of soucek connection. Think they should also look at Adam Hlozek who would be a great fit at 9 because of his mobility. With champions league would be a great move for those czech guys to take the next step up although they may want to go on loan first. interesting to see odds sportsbetting3.com have on where we finish next year with handling the champions league and world cup drama.

alderz

RexRichard said:

I would expect them to go for Daniel Samek maybe to replace rice because of soucek connection. Think they should also look at Adam Hlozek who would be a great fit at 9 because of his mobility. With champions league would be a great move for those czech guys to take the next step up although they may want to go on loan first. interesting to see odds sportsbetting3.com have on where we finish next year with handling the champions league and world cup drama.

I’m not sure about the Czech connection. Both Soucek and Coufal have dropped off a lot this season, and I’d be slightly concerned that the step up is too much for many Czech players.

OldCastleSwift

I think Soucek's dip in form is in large part due to the change in Rice's game. Soucek hasn't been as attacking as he was last season and his game as suffered as a result.

Coufal has been carrying an injury all season so again, I think there are mitigating circumstances to his performances this time round.

Kral is the more obvious concern in terms of the 'step up' as he's considered a worse option than a 34 year-old Mark Noble in midfield, although I maintain he shouldn't be judged on the tiny amount of football he's played this season.

And not forgetting the much-hyped Abdullah Sima, who has featured just twice for Stoke in the Championship this season.

So over the course of typing this reply I seem to have gone from disagreeing with alderz to agreeing with him 🤔

IronHerb

I agree with OCS re Soucek and Coufal. In fact I think Soucek is now showing better form as Rice is now sitting deeper and Soucek is playing the more forward role.

alderz

My point isn't that I think either Coufal or Soucek are poor players. I think they are both really solid players for us. It's more that a year ago it seemed almost like the Czech league was a treasure trove of cheap great players that could immediately step up, and now it doesn't really seem that way

PrestonHammer

Soucek and Coufal will get a good rest over summer, ready to kick on again next season.

whupathman

The lack of a January bounce really hurting now, the team is giving its all but its a very poor run of results

PrestonHammer

I really really hope we are looking at players to bring in at the start of the window, instead of waiting to the last minute.

OldCastleSwift

whupathman said:

The lack of a January bounce really hurting now, the team is giving its all but its a very poor run of results

Yep, squad just hasn't been deep enough or good enough to cope. And when you have a small squad you can't afford to have any passengers.

Vlasic and Kral have, for various reasons, not offered anything to the squad, and Masuaku has been a liability more than anything else.

As we already know, there's a hell of a lot of work needed in the summer.

whupathman

well this is turning out well signing no one , good season but could have been a great one

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Not even just Jan (which was criminal)

But imagine spending the £25mil we spent on Vlasic on....well anybody, didn't even get ton the pitch today (not that he would've done anything)

OldCastleSwift

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

Not even just Jan (which was criminal)

But imagine spending the £25mil we spent on Vlasic on....well anybody, didn't even get ton the pitch today (not that he would've done anything)

Mad, isn't it. £25m on Vlasic who has offered almost nothing all season. And not forgetting the £25m spent on Benrahma, who hasn't really justified that cost, either. Kral has been a waste of time, too.

Need to do much, much better in the summer. No excuses now.

Hamstew

Yeah does feel like a wasted opportunity. A great season still but we've messed up big time in certain areas.

Lukerz

Another summer not finding a striker who is better than Antonio

Fortuneseeker

We may never see the best of Vlasic unless we play him in his best position as a No.10 behind a striker. Get a proper centre forward and pair them together and see what happens. Can’t fault Antonio for his work rate in some matches but there will be better players in his position that we can get & probably could have got in January.

Hamstew

I think Antonio is a better winger.

OldCastleSwift

Thoughts on Soucek? Rumours that Juve are interested at £40m.

I thought he was poor again tonight. Just doesn't influence the game enough for me. Seemed like a colossus last season but this time round just looks lost a lot of the time. Doesn't pass the ball particularly well, doesn't carry it forward, and has been less of a threat in the opposition box.

I'm not saying I want him gone, but if we could get Kamara from Marseille on a free and pocket £40m for Soucek, I'd be tempted.

OldCastleSwift

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/21/regretful-west-ham-must-make-the-right-signings-to-improve?CMP=share_btn_tw

A fair article, I feel. And one I completely agree with. A good season, but one that could have have been better.

buffybegood

OldCastleSwift said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/21/regretful-west-ham-must-make-the-right-signings-to-improve?CMP=share_btn_tw

A fair article, I feel. And one I completely agree with. A good season, but one that could have have been better.

Tbh, it's what many of us here have been saying for most of the season, and certainly since January.

Bazshuayi

Yes because it was plain to a lot of fans that the lack of Jan squad investment would most likely come back to bite us

IronHerb

buffybegood said:

OldCastleSwift said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/21/regretful-west-ham-must-make-the-right-signings-to-improve?CMP=share_btn_tw

A fair article, I feel. And one I completely agree with. A good season, but one that could have have been better.

Tbh, it's what many of us here have been saying for most of the season, and certainly since January.

Haven't they just. 🤣

Slacker

Funny really, I don’t recall anyone discussing this on here. I’ll check back in the archives.

Lukerz

Personally I don’t believe it’s a season of ‘what could have been’. I don’t see much better than getting to within 90 minutes of a European Final (given our recent history), pushing the top 6 all season (given our recent history) despite the additional games & doing reasonably well in both cups (given our recent history). It’s always easy to say ‘we could have done more’. Ultimately we have done very well with a good, core group of players. I don’t feel we had any expectation on winning the Europa League & I don’t think top 4 would have been achieved even with more additions. I felt Frankfurt were a level above us, whether that’s in quality, mentality or experience & I feel the top 5 are a step above us slightly in the PL.

Ultimately the next step for us is to maintain our status as a top 7 club & try & put things in place that enable us to push the top 4. I always believe you build slowly as opposed to squad overhauls & I am prepared to be patient whilst this happens.

Lukerz

It’s also not right to take from other peoples plates when you have leftovers on yours. I do feel you can’t keep buying a player or two when you have Yarmolenko, Kral, Fredericks, Diop, arguably Vlasic, sitting on the bench contributing sporadically. Decisions need to be made about them (3 seem to be leaving in the summer) & then you can think about looking for better players to bring in. It’s not sustainable to keep buying players & paying wages when you have players on wages here already.

There will be a lot of wages saved this summer & we have carried over around 3 windows worth of funds. How do we know the club haven’t planned for the summer of 2022 knowing the amount of players who would be going & the wages freed up? The club would have known a year ago (maybe longer) that Fredericks, Noble, Yarmolenko would be leaving this summer. Going into a summer with a decent transfer budget & a decent wage budget is a good position to be in.

Lukerz

And one more thing, I am a believer that you can adjust expectations thoughout a season based on how it’s going, but annoyingly the window shut end of January & we hadn’t even played Sevilla. It’s a bit harsh to state the lack of signings meant we missed out on a Europa League final. Moyes wouldn’t have been thinking, in Jan, about a final in Spain. He would have been thinking about the league, knowing we had a last 16 tie in March, then a 1/4 final & then a semi.

Pearces_Left_Foot

I think Moyes has done a brilliant job and if he can’t find the player he thinks is best for the club he won’t spend the money rather than sign someone for the sake of it. I also think we have had a limit of how much wages were available with big earners sitting on the bench Yarmo Fredericks Masuaku and even Noble . This summer we have wages available and money to spend and are coming off the back off another good season with European football on offer. Fingers crossed the stars align and we get in the players Moyes wants with the right mentality and fit for the club no more big names players who only come for big money would rather sign players from other countries and lower divisions . Over to you Mr Moyes and Mr Newman and GSBK

Bazshuayi

There was nothing to be scared of in January league wise. It was pretty clear City, Liverpool and Chelsea were the top 3 and unlikely to be displaced. However, Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs weren't pulling up trees despite resources and squad depth. A few additions could've easily seen us get 4th (like Leicester shocking the world and that scenario was far less likely to happen). We didn't take points off plenty of average sides and a bit more squad quality depth could've changed that

alderz

Not sure about that last part, Lukerz

If we win the first 19 games of the season and then go on a 19 game losing streak, I think it’s fair to be disgruntled at the management and even call for their heads, even though 57 points across a season is a brilliant return for us.

I understand what you’re saying, and my expectations have been exceeded this season, but I don’t think that means you can’t / don’t adjust expectations or at least your barometer of success based on what is happening.

Expat_Hammer

Antonio was looking really shot the second half of the season, he could have done with some time off. If we had only secured a second forward. BUT, let's see what Moyes gets up to in the summer and see how we fare next season.

I think, and hope, that we will be top six again

COYI

ScotHammer

10 years ago, I was looking forward to a trip to Wembley for the championship play off final vs Blackpool. This year we are looking to finish up above Man Utd to decide which European competition we go into next year. Our expectations have gone up, and I think we can maintain our position with the right signings, but I think we can reflect on a brilliant season whatever the result today. ⚒