Whichever way I look at it I can’t help believing that West Ham have made a proper dog’s dinner of their striker problems and central to my thinking is Diafra Sakho.
Now, I’m fully aware that a section of fans will moan and groan about his attitude and claim they don’t want him at the club after his summer behaviour but perspective is required.
The bottom line problem in the Sakho issue is – as is usually the case – money! He is understood to be on around £27.5k a week which when compared to Zaza – at around £70k minimum- is utterly ridiculous.
The Hammers were also looking at Christian Benteke who wanted £100,000 and other targets in the summer at around the same and more. Sorry, that makes no sense to me given that in Sak we have a quality performer when he’s not played on the wing!
Now I know has had his injury problems – so has Carroll! – and Enner Valencia is on bigger dough than the Senegal hitman following the £12 million move.
SO ….quite simply £27.5k is nothing like enough for a bloke who many believe – including me – is the best striker at the club.
Ok he’s moody and can throw wobblers and that can cause issues within the squad but I still believe that had the WHUFC upped his money to let’s say £40k a week, many of our on field problems would have gone away.
We are told he’s pain free, that his back problem is now ok and it’s all about regaining full fitness. So I genuinely believe that the club should offer him the sort of deal mentioned. We could then have a guy on our hands ready to show what he’s all about again.
And we all know that at his best he’s one of the best around.
Valencia, Zaza, or Sakho on decent money? I know who I would want sorted out and given that it’s not too late to do so let’s organise it WHUFC!
COYI
Totally agree with you he is the best striker we have at this club and yes he threw wobblers but in his defence he done nothing wrong to warrent being treated how he was yes he should of had a pay rise and maybe we wouldnt be in the position we are in but in whu defence the way he also acted he hasnt shown his worth a pay rise due to his behaviour ability wise he has i.would.love for him to come back and do the business and show us them crossed arms like it or not his part of the west ham family and and should feel appreciated no matter what
Best striker at the club for what we need a striker to do. Runs channels, hold it up and press from the front. None of the others are mobile enough to do it.
I totally agree also …..Sakho does much more on the pitch in 1 game than Zaza has done in all his games so far.
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Best results last season were with Sacko in the team, forget about weetabix ankles and Zaza just get him back in the side.
You have to ask the question..is Carroll really a 65/70k a week better player than Sakho?
I dont see it so in that case Sakho deserves to be on a higher wage if he gets his head straight
Can he get his act together though.That is another question altogether Lol
It is a no brainer.I do not like or condone his tantrum but you can understand why . Zaza is 50% the player he is and earns 3 times more . The Davids play silly games with transfer speculation which also upsets morale. Get him back in the first team , send Zaza home before it is too late . Get rid of Noble , Cresswell back and 90% of our problems can be solved .
Also agree with up Sakho wages, why oh why are they messing him about, and why has it taken this long to come out, when we were thinking he is a toys out of pram guy, and best he is gone, well I would not have thought like that knowing now what has been said, and yes we do need him on the pitch with better wages and give him the go and show us what we have been missing with a new Sakho, Two Davids please sort this out, yet another wobble for our new home to sort, very clever people no poxy common sense, god help us !
Shame this wasn’t sorted out before it came to a head. On his day Sakho is unplayable. Fantstic workrate. reminds me of Didier Drogba. Yes he has been a baby but we have not helped. Potentially the best striker at the club. Totally agree. Pay him his due, lets get him back and show him so loooove! The goals will come.
Well I do find it hard to have sympathy for a stroppy player on a mere £1.5mn but I do think that when at his best he is a joy to watch. So I think I would say – sort your attitude first and then we can talk about a deal. Maybe offer him a better performance related deal in the short term.
Yeah its all relative isnt it.I mean there is the real world us lot live in then there are sportsmans wages.I know him & his team must have agreed to this weekly wage but it makes him one of the lowest paid players in our team now.That cant be right.
I would agree with Stow Hammer let’s see what he is like when he starts playing, if he transforms the team accross a season then up his salary, if not make a decision on his future.
I agree that his salary probably isn’t in line with his peers but it doesn’t change the fact that he is under contract with the club and has (apparently) downed tools in a strop. The guy’s attitude is all wrong, even in the context of professional footballers.
Lmao this is a pain in the ass situation.We have a player whos attitude seems to have stunk recently but we could really do with him back.Im not sure of the answer to the prob but we could sure do with him on the pitch as it stands.
It’s discracful the way Sakho has been treated over the past year. I think we all had high hopes that the summer signings would add something extra to the team, and they have. Naivety, poor work ethic and general incompetence. We can all see that existing “stars” don’t seem to be that interested currently, let’s see if making a fallen one a main man can give us a desperately needed shot in the arm.
Play him and if he does the biz after 4 /5 games give him the dough he deserves. That way both will have proved their commitment. We need to get back to basics. Personaly i would tell the groundsmen to shrink the pitch to the same size as UP. Go to 4-4-2. lets stop leaking goals. At the moment either Payet or Lanzini but not both. In a losing side you cant have 2 luxury players. Once we get back to winning ways we can play em both. None of our forward players can play the lone striker role. The ball don’t stay upfield for any time so our defence is permanently under pressure. I know Slav loves one up front system but that entails others to get forward to support and when we lose the ball they ain’t getting back.
It’s really a question of earning it. For over a year he’s been a sulky child because he “only” earns £1.43m a year. Perspective check, guys. At 38 PL games and say, six cup matches, it comes out at £360 per minute, assuming he plays the ninety of every game. I know others get even more, but FFS!
Agree with Mooro66uk with exception that we should give him part of his increase in salary now as an incentive and to show willing and that rest after a period of appearances and success rating . He’s a great striker on his day and I’d like to see him back on top form for us and scoring and happy to be an Iron . I also agree with the idea of making our playing area smaller , ,too much space behind our defenders.
Why give him a pay rise – I thought he was injured again? I agree that when fir he can play and is most likely our best striker.
How many people who take weeks or months sick from their jobs or are unfit to work get pay rises?
Maybe give him a goal bonus or playing time bonus to give him a real incentive to get fit and stay fit. Maybe he already has exactly that and because he cannot play he is only on Just over £100,000 per month for doing nothing – poor thing.
Lets pay Dean Ashton as well he was a great striker when fit.