21 Sep 2020 12:00:18
Im sorry but I have to disagree, Haller has not been given a chance and will not be given a chance under Moyes, Moyes is one for these managers is if he don't fancy you that's it, thank god for Antonio, but we should never be in this position full stop.

Apart from the season we started under Bilic beating Arsenal Man C, Liverpool away is the only time I thought we may have turned the corner and looking up, that's about it, although the board have promised us the earth we have never been in a position to kick on ( except first season under Bilic) so as we don't buy to enhance we buy for a saviour, nothing will change with this club until real and solid investment is introduced,

Its OK for Sullivan to come out and say once we moved we are going to buy a £40m striker at the time but this is one example of incompetence, I don't mean business incompetence I mean not knowing how to conduct in the transfer window, u tell the world your going for a £40m striker and than all strikers we approach are suddenly worth £40 m, and they wonder why they never get any deals over the line without drama

Although Moyes is a steady manager and has he own certain way, for me is never willing to change, we have a £40m striker who can score on the bench, we have Antonio bursting a gut and our own real option of scoring, sooner rather than later he will get an injury maybe than Haller gets a decent run in the side, but the way Moyes sets up it will show Haller in his worse light, we need to have support up front, yes as a stop gap Deeney would do for me as some say but his getting on and will get injured, but I would take him, goodness how desperate are we after a 32 yr old striker to help us stay up!

I'm afraid as much as we live in hope the only excitement this season will be avoiding the drop, we may get the odd win against Chelsea or Spurs but were also lose at home to Brighton, Sheff U etc, we have no consistency,


You look at the squad and on paper it is really no worse than the so called lesser teams, so for me its up to the manager to get a system going that plays to the strengths of what we have, not play a system that he thinks is best but has to juggle players into his system, it doesn't sit right with me

The club needs a total reset, apart from the 15/ 16 season we have not finished above 10th, a far cry from challenging for the CL, I know the DGS mean well and I have no doubt in there eyes they are trying to manage the club sensibly, surely even they must realise that the project has failed and time to move on, but i'm sure all of the above is common knowledge with you all, I just wanted to get off my chest. Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - what I don't understand is why no one at the club has actually bothered to find out where Haller played before buying him. He was a number 10, playing behind the striker, not as a striker. It seems like West Ham are still stuck in the 70s and 80s and haven't realised they can do video analysis of his previous games to see how to get the best out of him. Instead they have looked at his stats, seen he scored goals, looked at the size of him and decided he must be a target man.}

1.) 21 Sep 2020
21 Sep 2020 14:43:51
I remember when Haller name first came up, I was listening to a certain Europe football journalist and he said if West ham can get Haller over the line and play him in exactly where you said Ed it may well turn out to be a game changer for West ham, so somehow we get him, and we have a manager who does not rate him, typical West ham all over, and that's not the boards fault, I know some don't rate him on here, but I guarantee behind a striker as Ed said he will score, problem is we don't have a striker, and we don't have a manager who is brave enough to change, Moyes must see something in training to stick to his guns, Give Noble the Job! :)

2.) 21 Sep 2020
21 Sep 2020 17:47:58
Warrington, good well thought out post as usual, but still disagree with some of it but lots will disagree with me🤣However what I cannot agree with is how you can say you can “guarantee” Haller will score goals, nobody can guarantee anything in Football! All Managers are human and have reasons to either rate or not rate certain players, especially if they inherit them! We just have to go along with who we have, Manager, squad etc. On paper we certainly seem to have spent enough to be at least midway when the season finishes, Pellegrini as I said before was on an ego trip with us living off his past Man C success, WH and it’s supporters are now paying the Price for his incompetence, but all water under the bridge, so we must have to hope That the players we have if used properly will be sufficient to not only keep us up, but push on further up the table! ⚒⚒⚒⚒.

3.) 22 Sep 2020
21 Sep 2020 23:19:35
I have faith in Haller as I watched him play in the Bundesliga but Ed001 is right, he isn't a striker leading the line alone. I think the problem was he was rushed after we endlessly chased Maxi Gomez even after he said he didn't want to join. Haller could be very good for us but we need someone else up front with him, but we bought him to lead the line in place of the Gomez deal and he wasn't the same type of striker.

4.) 22 Sep 2020
22 Sep 2020 06:53:32
Sdl, we have another to play alongside him, Antonio, but for obvious reasons, DM prefers Antonio as the one target man and if anyone it has to be Antonio, i think that’s a rubbish system Imo, to much pressure on one man, all or. most have at least 2 recognised goal scorers, we just have to accept that’s the way DM wants it or just doesn’t want Haller!

5.) 22 Sep 2020
22 Sep 2020 09:53:42
Hi Chelms, Of course no one can guarantee goals but play Haller in the correct position as SDL mentioned he will have just as much chance as scoring as any striker in the Prem, they say we are looking for a striker but that surely can't be to replace Haller as he was never an out and out striker anyway, get a decent number 9 let the defenders worry about him while Haller supports, the trouble with one at top is unless the wide players make intelligent runs off the ball the defenders just lap things up, 2 up top for me all day, I said this before he seems we worry far to much about the opposition than they do about us, I know you have to balance but I would love to see the shackles come off and see where we go, we need to move the ball quicker but I think Moyes does love the build up in play.

6.) 22 Sep 2020
22 Sep 2020 12:39:27
I go right back to MP on the Haller issue, his stubborness to change his formation left Seb struggling and WHU suffered as a result. Multiple managers in 5 years has left us with a squad of players who do not yet fit a system that suits all players.
The reason Moyes won't play Haller with Antonio is because if one gets injured he has no backup. He'd rather play one of them and try and support them with a combo of Bowen, Yarmo, Lanzini, Anderson and Fornals. Anderson is key here for me, teach him to play a way that works with Haller and it could be a game changer. If not, play Antonio and buy a new backup striker. But, where is the cash for that this season given we need to sure up the back first.
I think Masuaku and Tarkowski (or another GOOD centre back) could be the Key. May sound like iv done a Tory U-turn on Arthur, but the justification is in a formation change. Arthur cannot play LB (he even said once that it is not his position), but he CAN play LWB and and with Tarkowski it allows us to play 3 at the back with Dec and Soucek in front, Dec holding and Soucek occasionally getting into the box for crosses. This enables us to play 3 attacking players, none of whom are relied upon to give us width (as we have quick wing backs for this) and thus allowing them to get close and/ or beyond Haller.
By all accounts we did well vs Arsenal (i intend to watch full 90 this week as I missed the live game) and this was becasue we played 3 at the back using Cresswell there. This is why i can understand Moyes going all in on Tarkowski. Whether this is his plan remains to be seen, but it's what i would do this season given what we have and limited funds.