West Ham: Season Preview

For a club like West Ham, a thirteenth place finish last season should be considered respectable at current.  Yes the Hammers have a storied history, one that includes Sir Geoff Hurst, Trevor Booking, Bobby Moore and others, but the current state of affairs at Upton Park is one that is unavoidable; the Hammers are a mid-table side and will be for many, many years to come.

That said, for a side that had it’s struggles last term, it must be stated that a mid-table finish is commendable, especially for a side that at times could not hit the broadside of a barn let alone the back of the net.  While many will lament that Big Sam Allardyce still remains the headmaster, there is certainly reason to be hopeful coming into this season.

With Big Sam Allardyce in charge, you know exactly what you’ll get; for better or worse

The club has done rather well this summer to address its lack of goalscoring last campaign, and they brought in very good reinforcements for a back-line that wasn’t all that half bad already.  And yes, while you can discuss how Allardyce is frustrating (at the very least) to have as your manager, he is highly experienced.  This is the same man who led a Bolton side to many credible performances and league table finishes that still defy belief to this day.

While Hammers supporters cannot expect more than another mid-table finish this season, one thing they certainly can expect is reliability and stability; such traits are very good building blocks in their own rights.  Surely it must be a step by step process, with the next aim to be to crack the top half of the table.  With uncertainly surrounding many clubs around them, this season must be one where the framework is laid for the following campaign.

TRANSFERS IN (six; totaling a reported 26.5 million pounds):

Enner Valencia (middle) will have plenty of expectations surrounding him after his performances this summer for Ecuador. He does fit the mold for West Ham, but will he deliver the goals they crave?

Enner Valencia; ST (12 million pounds from Pachuca) – To say that the striker issue at West Ham is a massive issue is putting it lightly.  Andy Carroll, arguably one of the most over-rated and under-performing strikers in the history of the Premier League remains the clubs best options (at least on paper).  The club brought in Marco Borriello to try to patch the issue, but that too was a massive fail.  Carlton Cole remains at the club as well, but surely he is no longer a real option to occupy the starting birth.  So the club went out and bought the impressive Enner Valencia after his excellent performances for Ecuador in the World Cup this past summer that saw him net all three goals his country could muster.  He fits the bill perfectly for Allardyce; he’s absolutely brilliant in the air, he holds up play well, but he also has a bit of pace about him that adds an extra dynamic to his game that could well make him a terror for Premier League defenses.

Cheikhou Kouyate; CB (6 million pounds from RSC Anderlecht) – West Ham’s defensive record last season was about what you would expect from a mid-table side; they surrendered 51 goals in 38 matches, which is decent, but can be attributed more to their defensive posture rather than any quality at the back.  Winston Reid is the best they had available, while James Tomkins and James Collins really have no business being in the XI.  New signing Cheikhou Kouyate comes to the Hammers as one of the brightest defensive talents in Belgium during his time at Anderlecht, and many had him going to a more prominent club.  While there is no telling how long he will be at Upton Park, he should have no issues winning the support over with a few brilliant showings; he’s that good, and alongside Reid, the Hammers are much better off in central defense now.

Aaron Cresswell; LB (4 million pounds from Ipswich Town) – On paper, Cresswell is a decent signing, but often times it is hard to see how you can improve your side in the Premier League with a defensive signing from the Championship.  While Cresswell is a solid defender, who will undoubtedly be first choice at the club, he must come good for the Hammers, and soon, if Allardyce will not be made to regret his acquisition.

Mauro Zarate brings pace, energy and experience to a West Ham side that need plenty of work; the Hammers will hope he will bring goals and creativity with him as well

Mauro Zarate; ST (undisclosed from Velez Sarsfield) – While his goalscoring record is not the best (93 goals in 319 total career appearances, including 37 goals in 157 appearances in the Serie A with both Inter Milan and Lazio, Zarate does bring a different option for Allardyce to consider.  It is usually the preference of Big Sam to play long ball and take his chance on set pieces, but Zarate will offer some direct style of play that may do West Ham some good in the long run.  He won’t be expected to bang in more than six or seven goals if that, but he will certainly create a chance or two and earn his fair share of fouls that will no doubt play right into Allardyce’s game plan.

Diego Poyet; CM (free transfer from Charlton Athletic) – He may not be a fan of Andy Carroll, but Diego Poyet (son of Chelsea legend Gustavo Poyet) brings a hungry, gifted and creative midfielder to a side that is starving for such a player.  The fact that the Hammers were able to get him on a free is an even better piece of business.  He is still just aged nineteen, and has plenty of older players to learn from at the club, including Mark Noble and Kevin Nolan.  While it may take him a while to break into the team, if at all this season, he is certainly in the long term plans of the club, considering Nolan is advancing in years, and Ravel Morrison being a massive liability (and may still leave the club this summer).

Carl Jenkinson; RB (season-long loan from Arsenal) – Poor Carl Jenkinson honestly.  He did an excellent job when called upon to fill for Bacary Sagna at Arsenal when the Frenchman was not fit or needed a rest, but with the acquisitions of Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and the fast-tracking of Hector Bellerin, Jenskinson’s loan move to West Ham seems a prelude to a permanent move away from the Emirates.  Under Allardyce, he is sure to start at least thirty league matches this season, which will do him plenty of good.  He’s a good defender, he works incredibly hard and he even has something in him going forward; he’ll do well.

TRANSFERS OUT (seven; totaling 0 pounds):

Jordan Spence, Joe Cole, Matthew Taylor, Callum Driver, Stephan Henderson, Jack Collison and George McCartney all given free transfers – The departures from Upton Park, all on free’s tells you exactly what you needed to know.  While Cole was picked up by Aston Villa in a bid to give themselves a bid of depth, none of the outgoing players could be deemd serviceable options for the first-team, or players who just would never crack into the first-team in the first place.  Nothing like a bit of needed house cleaning, I say.

"PREDICTED STARTING XI: 4-2-3-1: Adrian; Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid, Cheikhou Kouyate, Carl Jenkinson; Mohamed Diame, Mark Noble; Matt Jarvis, Kevin Nolan, Stewart Downing; Enner ValenciaUnfortunately, even with the purchase of the aforementioned transfers in at the club, West Ham are still nothing more than a mid-table side; this does not mean that they will not be incredibly effective at what they do.  Enner Valencia comes into the Premier League already as one of the best aerial threats I personally have seen in quite sometime.  With Allardyce’s preference to play through the air, this benefits West Ham in multiple ways.  Matt Jarvis can deliver an excellent ball on his day, and while Stewart Downing as yet to learn the value of an accurate cross, god bless him for trying; surely he’ll get one right.  Other than aiming for Valencia’s noggin, the Ecuadorian has the ability to hold up play to create goal scoring chances for Jarvis, Downing, Kevin Nolan and Mark Nolan, both of whom love to have a crack from outside the box.  It won’t be perfect, but it could well be effective.  At the other end, Adrian is a solid keeper, and the improvement brought in by the three defensive acquisitions should solidify the Hammers at the back even further."

TEAM STRENGTHS:

Enner Valencia (background) brings another aerial threat to Upton Park

•  Aerial presence – With the purchases of Enner Valencia and Cheikhou Kouyate, West Ham have added to the aerial threat they’ll pose to the entire league.  Winston Reid, Kevin Nolan and Mohamed Diame were already very good in the air on both sides of the ball, so the addition of the aforementioned new signings makes West Ham a tricky opponent not just in defending set pieces-against them, but also trying to convert your own set-piece opportunities.  There is still no telling just how many chances the Hammers will be able to create from the run of play, but rest assured they’ll easily crack double-digit goals from dead-ball situations.
• Well drilled in what is expected of them – He may not be the best manager on offer, but Sam Allardyce has been using the same tactical set up for years; it has to be to the point where he comes into pre-season using the same powerpoint presentation that he used at Bolton.  West Ham will always be frustrating to play against and break down under him, and while that will net them results enough to keep them mid-table, it won’t be enough to see them progress beyond that.  Still and yet, there is something to be said about being consistent, and West Ham should at least be consistently frustrating, for better or worse.
• Midfield workrate – There are few in the league that work harder than the pair of Mohamed Diame and Mark Noble.  It’s a real shame that Noble was never given a true look for the national team set up, while it’s surprising that Diame has not moved on from West Ham given that he is an excellent holding player that would cost you pennies compared to what other’s would cost you.  While West Ham will deploy defensively for much of the season, it’s the efforts in the center of the park by these two that make them that much more frustrating to play against, and that much harder to break down.

TEAM WEAKNESSES:

Aside from Mark Noble, it’s hard to see where the creativity will stem from for the Hammers this season

•  Goal Scoring – A mere 40 goals in 38 appearances is the biggest problem that exists at Upton Park, but then again, you won’t score a ton of goals when Sam Allardyce is your manager either.  It is commendable that the club have gone out this summer and brought in signings that will hope to not only get goals, but supply them as well.  In Enner Valencia, the club have hopefully found a striker that can crack double-digits and hopefully flirt with the fifteen goal mark.  Capable in the air and on the ground, Valencia is sure to lead the line; the problem arises when you realize that Carlton Cole, Modibo Maiga and Andy Carroll are the other strikers at the club – none of them are capable of scoring more than five in a season.  Mauro Zarate could perhaps flirt with seven or eight, and while the club may score more than 40 this term, goals will still be hard to come by.
• Lack of creativity – Much like the goal scoring conundrum, efforts have been made to create a supply line for which goals would hopefully be the rest this season; but to be frank, are Mauro Zarate and Diego Poyet the answer to the problem.  Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis are not without effort, but Downing has regressed by a factor of fifty after he left Aston Villa for a bigger club (Ashley Young can attest to that happenstance as well), and Jarvis is not in the XI enough to be truly effective.  Kevin Nolan is getting those tired legs that come with age, and Mark Noble does do a good job at pulling the strings from behind the forward players, but he’s their only consistent creative launchpad – the likes of Jarvis, Downing, Zaarate and others will have to find their inner genius this season if West Ham is expected to increase it’s goal tally from the previous campaign.
• Inexperienced back-four – While the additions of Aaron Cresswell, Carl Jenkinson and Cheikhou Kouyate are a welcomed one, the problem stems from the fact that the trio of them lack any legitimate Premier League experience of value.  Yes Jenkinson was at Arsenal, but e rarely featured.  Cresswell comes to Upton Park by way of Ipswich Town, and Kouyate, while incredibly promising, was plying his trade at the best club in Belgium without much consistent competition.  It will be a massive baptism of fire for the Hammers back-four this season, and even in their first match (against Spurs) they’ll be asked to be as solid as ever; it could end up a tough task indeed.

"PREDICTED FINISH: 12thWell, can anyone really be shocked by this prediction?  Maybe the only shocking part of it is that I am pegging them to finish one place better than last campaign.  In all seriousness, there is not much more that anyone can expect from them, or from Sam Allardyce.  Considering the massive debt they still find themselves in, the club has done the best it could to bring in the type of reinforcements that they can hope will change things, but they will not do nearly enough.  While some will still cling to days gone by, the truth of the matter, is that the club and its supporters must re-think the ambitions its set for itself.  In the age of FFP and the constraints it places on clubs that are not in the elite, Upton Park will be a ground that will play host to mid-table mediocrity; well, at least until it moves to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 – then, an even bigger stadium will play host to the same mediocrity.  Unfortunately, the club are in two much debt and do not have anywhere near the clout required to attract the talent necessary to raise expectation to levels that are justified.  The good news, is that Allardyce will guide the Hammers to another middle of the pack finish, at least ensuring that the club at least remain in the Premier League."