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Freddie Sears scored a good goal, on Saturday, in the 2-0 defeat of Real Zaragoza. Following on from his excellent strike against FC Copenhagen, Sears seems to really be getting his eye in nicely this pre-season. I always felt that there were a lot more goals to come from Freddie. He is a natural goal scorer, but some youngsters take a bit longer to make the transition to first team football. Additionally, self-confidence is a big factor in goal scoring and Sears appears to be rapidly acquiring it!
I suppose the interesting question is whether Sears’ future is as an out and out striker or a wide player, with the ability to regularly get in the box and weigh in with his share of goals? I suspect that he may eventually revert back to playing as a second striker, feeding off a target man. For the time being, Sears should continue to play out wide. However, this could change, especially if we fail to land Shane Long or another goal poacher to play alongside Cole, Piquionne or Nouble. Perhaps the wide player/striker dichotomy would be rendered irrelevant if Sears played in a 4-3-3, where he both provided width and supported the main striker? Although I have a feeling that Allardyce may not share Zola and Grant’s preference for that particular formation. Whatever, the club have been patient with Sears and now is the time for the Academy product to start delivering the goods, wherever he is deployed.
It now appears that JL. Samuel may join the club. He did well enough on Saturday and he could be a good Bosman signing. We appear to be preparing to go into the season with O’Brien and Spence covering the right-back spot. Joey O’Brien could prove to be an inspired signing. He was a very good prospect at Bolton and has been unlucky with injuries over the last two years. Hopefully, his fitness problems are now over and Sam Allardyce can help him get his career back on track. While I view Jordan Spence as primarily a centre-back, who also has the ability to play at right full-back. I sincerely hope that he gets some decent playing time at right-back, this season, and the experience gained helps him secure his future tenure at centre-back. Indeed, I have high hopes that the Tomkins-Spence central defensive combination will eventually become a fixture for West Ham Utd FC and, hopefully, England.
This is a big season for Mark Noble. He needs to really make the midfield anchor role his own. With his vision and range of passing, he should do very well there. However, he also needs to tighten up in defensive areas and stop needlessly giving away silly free-kicks in dangerous positions. I am sure that this is an aspect of his game that Sam Allardyce will help him to rectify. As regards Scott Parker, will he stay or will he go? Basically, the odds are that Spurs wil try to pull off a late deal, but will their, likely, c4-5m offer meet West Ham’s valuation? Spurs will state that it is a fair fee for a 30 year old, with little sell on value; while West Ham will stress that he is the Sports Writers Player of the Year and a current England International. We shall see what transpires? If he does stay (even if only until January) it will be a big boost to our automatic promotion prospects. In contrast, Green and Cole look increasingly likely to stay and, again, it will be an achievement if they do.
There is a load of loose talk doing the rounds at the moment about ‘West Ham Wanderers.’ As I stated a few weeks ago, Allardyce is merely pursuing the sensible policy of bringing in a core of new players that he knows and, more importantly, who know each other. Putting together a new squad is inevitably going to cause some dislocation and there may be a period before it properly gels. What Allardyce is attempting to do is minimise that dislocation by grafting an experienced core of former playing on to a reconstituted and re-energised Hammers squad. Hopefully this strategy will w**k in double quick time and help deliver good early season results.
Sam Allardyce is to be applauded for his w**k so far. He has made some good signings, lifted the Hammers players from their post-relegation hangover, given the youngsters ample opportunities to shine in pre-season and created a new, positive ethos at the club. Tactically, he seems to be familiarising the squad with playing two or three alternative formations and is making good progress in addressing the fatal weaknesses exhibited last season. We have tightened up at the back and Allardyce has, presumably, impressed upon the whole squad the collective responsibility for defending higher up the pitch. Indeed, in pre-season, West Ham have worked hard at their pressing play when not in possession. Finally, Allardyce and his support team have set about improving squad fitness levels. That physical improvement should continue and pay real dividends during the course of the season.
Elsewhere, Shane Long has recently made a positive statement about joining the club. Regardless of his qualification about not being upset if he stays at Reading FC, it could be interpreted as a subtle invitation to ‘come and get him.’ Lets hope that West Ham up the bid and make the deal happen this week. He is a crucial bit of the jigsaw that is currently missing, his arrival could have a similar positive impact as when John Lyall signed Paul Goddard in the summer prior to the 1980-81 promotion season. Long is not as accomplished a player as Goddard, but he would still bring a vital, missing guile and technical ability to our strike force; as well as a track record as a 20 plus goal scorer in last season’s Championship.
Anyway, we can speculate on progress in pre-season, but it all becomes real with the opening fixture of the season. Cardiff City are a reasonable initial test, but we should emerge with a win. Hopefully, along with the three points, we will see ample evidence of defensive solidarity, collective cohesion and some good movement, passing and attacking play. Just as importantly, I shall also be looking for signs of real commitment and an emerging will to win, because it is the presence of those latter, twin factors that could eventually make the difference between winning and losing tough way fixtures at places like Millwall and Barnsley. Here’s hoping!
I suppose the interesting question is whether Sears’ future is as an out and out striker or a wide player, with the ability to regularly get in the box and weigh in with his share of goals? I suspect that he may eventually revert back to playing as a second striker, feeding off a target man. For the time being, Sears should continue to play out wide. However, this could change, especially if we fail to land Shane Long or another goal poacher to play alongside Cole, Piquionne or Nouble. Perhaps the wide player/striker dichotomy would be rendered irrelevant if Sears played in a 4-3-3, where he both provided width and supported the main striker? Although I have a feeling that Allardyce may not share Zola and Grant’s preference for that particular formation. Whatever, the club have been patient with Sears and now is the time for the Academy product to start delivering the goods, wherever he is deployed.
It now appears that JL. Samuel may join the club. He did well enough on Saturday and he could be a good Bosman signing. We appear to be preparing to go into the season with O’Brien and Spence covering the right-back spot. Joey O’Brien could prove to be an inspired signing. He was a very good prospect at Bolton and has been unlucky with injuries over the last two years. Hopefully, his fitness problems are now over and Sam Allardyce can help him get his career back on track. While I view Jordan Spence as primarily a centre-back, who also has the ability to play at right full-back. I sincerely hope that he gets some decent playing time at right-back, this season, and the experience gained helps him secure his future tenure at centre-back. Indeed, I have high hopes that the Tomkins-Spence central defensive combination will eventually become a fixture for West Ham Utd FC and, hopefully, England.
This is a big season for Mark Noble. He needs to really make the midfield anchor role his own. With his vision and range of passing, he should do very well there. However, he also needs to tighten up in defensive areas and stop needlessly giving away silly free-kicks in dangerous positions. I am sure that this is an aspect of his game that Sam Allardyce will help him to rectify. As regards Scott Parker, will he stay or will he go? Basically, the odds are that Spurs wil try to pull off a late deal, but will their, likely, c4-5m offer meet West Ham’s valuation? Spurs will state that it is a fair fee for a 30 year old, with little sell on value; while West Ham will stress that he is the Sports Writers Player of the Year and a current England International. We shall see what transpires? If he does stay (even if only until January) it will be a big boost to our automatic promotion prospects. In contrast, Green and Cole look increasingly likely to stay and, again, it will be an achievement if they do.
There is a load of loose talk doing the rounds at the moment about ‘West Ham Wanderers.’ As I stated a few weeks ago, Allardyce is merely pursuing the sensible policy of bringing in a core of new players that he knows and, more importantly, who know each other. Putting together a new squad is inevitably going to cause some dislocation and there may be a period before it properly gels. What Allardyce is attempting to do is minimise that dislocation by grafting an experienced core of former playing on to a reconstituted and re-energised Hammers squad. Hopefully this strategy will w**k in double quick time and help deliver good early season results.
Sam Allardyce is to be applauded for his w**k so far. He has made some good signings, lifted the Hammers players from their post-relegation hangover, given the youngsters ample opportunities to shine in pre-season and created a new, positive ethos at the club. Tactically, he seems to be familiarising the squad with playing two or three alternative formations and is making good progress in addressing the fatal weaknesses exhibited last season. We have tightened up at the back and Allardyce has, presumably, impressed upon the whole squad the collective responsibility for defending higher up the pitch. Indeed, in pre-season, West Ham have worked hard at their pressing play when not in possession. Finally, Allardyce and his support team have set about improving squad fitness levels. That physical improvement should continue and pay real dividends during the course of the season.
Elsewhere, Shane Long has recently made a positive statement about joining the club. Regardless of his qualification about not being upset if he stays at Reading FC, it could be interpreted as a subtle invitation to ‘come and get him.’ Lets hope that West Ham up the bid and make the deal happen this week. He is a crucial bit of the jigsaw that is currently missing, his arrival could have a similar positive impact as when John Lyall signed Paul Goddard in the summer prior to the 1980-81 promotion season. Long is not as accomplished a player as Goddard, but he would still bring a vital, missing guile and technical ability to our strike force; as well as a track record as a 20 plus goal scorer in last season’s Championship.
Anyway, we can speculate on progress in pre-season, but it all becomes real with the opening fixture of the season. Cardiff City are a reasonable initial test, but we should emerge with a win. Hopefully, along with the three points, we will see ample evidence of defensive solidarity, collective cohesion and some good movement, passing and attacking play. Just as importantly, I shall also be looking for signs of real commitment and an emerging will to win, because it is the presence of those latter, twin factors that could eventually make the difference between winning and losing tough way fixtures at places like Millwall and Barnsley. Here’s hoping!
