07 Jul 2019 20:40:19
Glad to see the back of Arnie.
I watched Gonzo's video on claret and Hugh. Which I thought was really good. Much as I would like Gomez to come to West Ham I'm not sure I want a player to come who would rather go elsewhere. Admittedly none of us know the real truth there. But it can't be good to have a player come because basically his agent is pimping him out! Also is he worth 44million.
I'm not sure he is. But would be more than happy if I am proved wrong in that he proves he is worth it and wants to play for us.

1.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 00:28:15
Unfortunately West Hm aren’t a club with enough prestige that we can base our transfer business on players that desire to play for us. Hugill wanted to play for us and look how that has turned out.

We have to persevere and convince the players to come when they would rather go elsewhere. This isn’t to say they will then down tools and not play. They are professionals. They may decide to move on after a season but as long as we get some decent performances from them and sell for a good price then that’s all we can do at the moment, with our current business model and desire of the manager.

2.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 07:38:22
I cannot see the benefit of signing any player where it has been stated they prefer to play elsewhere whether it is true or not, especially when they have not experienced playing in the Premiership and living in the UK, that to me is very unwise! It is far easier for them to play in Europe with another club overseas as the standard overall in the leagues is not as high as ours! Of course there are huge amounts of overseas players that successfully make the transition and settle in the UK, but I think it’s far better to bite the bullet and pay extra to buy a striker who at least can play in our league! We are WH and I find the comments like this one’s not good enough for whatever reason not applicable to us, we are not a top 6 club yet, so we need to get realistic about this!

3.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 10:09:58
It’s the age old chestnut - how to make a club attractive for the top talents.

As Chelms says, we are not there yet, but if we think about last season, the signs are encouraging: appointing MP shows serious intent to become a club that contends and the signing of Anderson, then Fornals clearly follows that up.

Without a foreign management buyout by a multi-gazillionaire, it won’t happen overnight, BUT it is happening.

By Aug 10th, I am convinced that MP/ H will have a formidable strike force in place. They have cleared out Carroll, Perez and Arnautovic (Chicha’s future is in the balance) and have practically a clean slate to bring in players they want for the style of play we are developing.

Then add the returning long term injured, who by all accounts are working well in Switzerland, and we have every reason to be optimistic about next season.

4.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 10:47:37
Bar the Left Back and Defensive Mid, MP could play a complete team of players that have come in under his stewardship.
Fabianski
Fredricks
Balbuena
Diop
Masuaku/ Cresswell
Rice
Fornals
Wilshere
Anderson
Yarmolenko
NEW SIGNING
Quite a change in just 1 year! I'd call this progress.
One of the most promising things about our attraction right now is that (so far) we have kept hold of Diop, Anderson and Rice AS WELL AS signing Fornals. A good striker who brings these AMs into the game more and we could have a good season. I still worry that we are not combative enough in CM alongside Rice though.

5.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 11:10:36
Left back, for me, is the biggest issue, Nick.

In the team you list, both Fornals and Wilshere do plenty of tracking and tackling back and would complement Rice nicely.

Bearing in mind the players you haven’t included, MP is developing a pretty good all round squad.

6.) 08 Jul 2019
08 Jul 2019 22:10:53
Personally, I feel Noble will start most games under Pellegrini. He appears to trust him. Plus he’s the skipper and without him we look a little rudderless.