The Transfer Window

Fortuneseeker

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1616617/Arsenal-transfer-news-Aaron-Hickey-West-Ham-offer

He is actually on my list from yesterday. Surely we haven't made a lower bid than Arsenal as that isn't the way we do transfers?

yoyo

RE: Dawson, I would be sad to see him go. He's no dynamic ball player but an old fashioned 100% guts 'n all player. I like him.

alderz

BubblesNeverDies said:

I wonder, does anyone have any stats comparing this season and the last that would indicate if there was any advantage with Rice in the more forward role that would offset the loss of Soucek's performance/goals?

I’ll see what I can find tomorrow

OutcastLondoner

The thing is, I think in the second half of the season Soucek actually did play further forward a lot more. Rice didn't drive forward as much. Soucek when in the right position often mistimed his header or shot.

eskimoking

Yeoldhammer

Cucurella sounds City bound like Phillips.

IronHerb

So we spend best part of £200m and still have Antonio as our striker? 🤔

Yeoldhammer

Andriy Yarmolenko, David Martin, Ryan Fredericks and Mark Noble will depart when their respective contracts expire on 30 June.

Yeoldhammer

sounds like Ogbonna / Fabianski / Johnson getting new deals ?

eskimoking

IronHerb said:

So we spend best part of £200m and still have Antonio as our striker? 🤔

What you haven’t seen is the back up striker I bought.

Yeoldhammer said:

Cucurella sounds City bound like Phillips.

I don’t believe those rumours. I don’t think Phillips is good enough for them. Cucurella maybe but I like him.

Instead of cynicism, just imagine if that’s the team we went all out for. I don’t think it’s impossible.

IronHerb

Johnson has 2 years to go on his contract.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

We aren't getting cucurella if city/Chelsea are interested

Likewise can't see us getting Phillips

Pearces_Left_Foot

https://www.hammers.news/columnist/yves-bissouma-adds-hammers-sign-to-instagram-bio-deletes-old-photos/

Think he would be a good signing although link is paper thin like most stories lol

Fortuneseeker

From c&h - And as we have made clear in recent reports the Hammers boss has no plans to sign a striker at a big price preferring instead to look for a younger front man to challenge Mikey Antonio up front.

IF this is correct we can expect expensive additions elsewhere can we?

Expat_Hammer

Fortuneseeker said:

From c&h -
IF this is correct we can expect expensive additions elsewhere can we?

Sulli's savings account ?

Yeoldhammer

Well there was a young striker in Hlozek a player playing for a club that one of our prospective owners is in charge of, who is now signing for Leverkusen.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Fortuneseeker said:

From c&h - And as we have made clear in recent reports the Hammers boss has no plans to sign a striker at a big price preferring instead to look for a younger front man to challenge Mikey Antonio up front.

IF this is correct we can expect expensive additions elsewhere can we?

Tbf got no problem with that

Antonio has 30 goals in the last three seasons (10 goals each) in the Prem which works out roughly a 1 in 3 goalscoring record

What he needs is competition and someone that can let him rest, because I think if he did have a few more games off his goalscoring and impact would've improved

claretandbluesky

If City were interested in Phillips, and as money is not a problem for them, they should be bidding for Rice, who in my view is far better. Phillips is a great replacement for Rice for us if we could get him but if you had the money to buy either there is no contest. Our optimal position is keep Rice one more year and bring in Phillips now!

If there is a pecking order within this window I fear we just fall out of the second tier with regard our pulling power. Top of tier three but can't offer tier two.

City, Liverpool, Chelsea
Spurs, Arsenal, United, Newcastle (£)
West Ham, Villa, Leicester, Wolves

Fortuneseeker

candbsky, We should be taking a crib at Aston Villa's shopping list as it's been pretty good so far.

alderz

alderz said:

BubblesNeverDies said:

I wonder, does anyone have any stats comparing this season and the last that would indicate if there was any advantage with Rice in the more forward role that would offset the loss of Soucek's performance/goals?

I’ll see what I can find tomorrow

Looking just at PL stats, I think the general findings are that Rice is a better overall player, but he's not an effective goalscorer. He's very good with the ball, he is improving as a dribbler, and he is very reliable in possession. He's also got better or comparable defensive stats than Soucek in almost every area - except for clearances, where Soucek gets a lot (presumably heading away set pieces).

The key thing for me though, is that Soucek was having 1.7 shots per 90 minutes last season, and 1.0 per 90 from inside the box - and he scored 10 goals in the league. This season, he dropped down to 1.3, and 0.6 in the box. Nearly halving his shots in the box per 90 minutes - and dropping from 59% of shots in the box to 46%.

On the other hand, Rice has gone from 0.8 shots per 90 and 0.4 in the box, to 0.7 and 0.2. So, you could argue that Rice player further forward has resulted in us having fewer 'good' chances for our midfielders, and ultimately they scored half the amount of goals between them this season to last.

However, what is also important is that Rice got 4 assists, doubled his number of dribbles per 90, increased his pass success to 92% and had 13.3 more passes per 90 than the year before.

So, if I was trying to form an opinion on this, I would say: Soucek is more effective getting into the box and trying to score. Rice is becoming better and better as a facilitator, and we should enable him some freedom to roam from time to time, but he should be the one that sits.

An alternate opinion might be that neither of them are truly defensive midfielders and we should allow them both to play in front of someone who is a holder. Imagine a scenario where Kalvin Phillips, for example, was sitting, with Rice to his left as a traditional box to box midfielder and facilitator, and Soucek to his right bombing into the box.

buffybegood

alderz said:

An alternate opinion might be that neither of them are truly defensive midfielders and we should allow them both to play in front of someone who is a holder. Imagine a scenario where Kalvin Phillips, for example, was sitting, with Rice to his left as a traditional box to box midfielder and facilitator, and Soucek to his right bombing into the box.

Would certainly be a very viable alternative to the 4-2-3-1 we usually play, it would be as much a 4-1-4-1 as a 4-3-3 I suspect. Phillips, or someone similar, would be a good buy, especially as Rice is likely to say goodbye next summer at the latest.

alderz

Pearces_Left_Foot said:

https://www.hammers.news/columnist/yves-bissouma-adds-hammers-sign-to-instagram-bio-deletes-old-photos/

Think he would be a good signing although link is paper thin like most stories lol

I agree that Bissouma is a player that would be a fantastic addition to our squad.

However, he is still under investigation for a sexual assault case in Brighton. Obviously it's possible that nothing comes of it, but I for one do not really want for us to sign him because of this case.

Putting the moral argument to one side, signing someone who is at risk of being charged with a serious crime is a real issue that we should avoid.

https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2022/04/06/brighton-and-hove-albion-footballer-remains-under-investigation-in-sex-attack-case/

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

claretandbluesky said:

If City were interested in Phillips, and as money is not a problem for them, they should be bidding for Rice, who in my view is far better. Phillips is a great replacement for Rice for us if we could get him but if you had the money to buy either there is no contest. Our optimal position is keep Rice one more year and bring in Phillips now!

If there is a pecking order within this window I fear we just fall out of the second tier with regard our pulling power. Top of tier three but can't offer tier two.

City, Liverpool, Chelsea
Spurs, Arsenal, United, Newcastle (£)
West Ham, Villa, Leicester, Wolves

Think that they want a back-upto Rodri rather than someone who is at the same level

Tbf Rodri is only 24 and is genuinely world class , wouldn't make sense for them to spend upwards of £100mil on Rice with him there

Phillips isn't as good as Rice but he'll probably play the same role as Nathan Ake, squad player who gets the odd start but is more for emergency cover....Rice would never settle for that

Also I'd revise your list a bit, as bad as United have been they have more pull than Arsenal, Newcastle, Spurs etc. Especially from abroad.

Pearces_Left_Foot

Alderz did n't know that agree not interested in him the last thing we need is more bad press after Zouma

Pearces_Left_Foot

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/west-ham-tomas-soucek-transfers-b1002840.html

OutcastLondoner

Soucek's fitness was pretty useful to us. I think he was underwhelming but not necessarily as bad as some make out. He set a high bar in his first season but maybe all we can expect is a solid and reliable CM. That's fine, for me. If there's a big offer from someone who thinks they can get the previous season's Soucek, then it might be worth looking at so we can build up but it would have to be a serious improvement on what we bought him for. Otherwise we should be building on top of what we knows works, in my opinion.

buffybegood

We need to bring in enough players already, without adding replacements for core players we don't want to lose.

claretandbluesky

Soucek also comes across as a really good egg and team player which can only help the dressing room as a whole.

nychammer66

claretandbluesky said:

Soucek also comes across as a really good egg and team player which can only help the dressing room as a whole.

And he makes a nice potato salad.

IronHerb

West Ham are not looking to sell The Czech Republic midfielder Tomas Soucek, 27, this summer amid reports they were listening to offers for him. (Sky Sports)

Stand down everyone.