22 Comments

Charlie Nicholas preview: ‘Lanzini is too inconsistent’

charlieFormer Arsenal player Charlie Nicholas has given his verdict on the season ahead for the Hammers.

Nicholas told Sky Sports: “Well Slaven Bilic has gone for more of ready-made summer signings. Robert Snodgrass didn’t really fit in and neither did Jose Fonte but he’s gone with the same approach with Hernandez, Zabaleta, Arnautovic and Hart. Hart is a big bonus. There were a lot of mistakes at the back and if he can get them organised then they’ll improve a lot, but I do think they need somebody else at the back, they can’t keep relying on James Collins to come in.”

Asked Which of their players are you most excited about watching?

CN: What is it that’s going to make the big difference to West Ham? For me, it is Hart. A goalkeeper who is used to challenging for titles is a big boost for them. Against the bigger teams he’ll make a big difference, when the big saves are there to make. He’ll be relishing those games.

Chicharito could score a lot of goals if they create enough chances, but that’s a big ‘if’, especially with Manuel Lanzini being too inconsistent.

 What are the challenges facing the manager this season?

CN: He can’t afford another season like last one. Too many things went wrong and the club will demand more order this time round.

What are their strengths?

CN: I think the strength will be what they had to go through last season. The change of the stadium, the defensive sloppiness, the tough decisions which Bilic had to make.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

22 comments on “Charlie Nicholas preview: ‘Lanzini is too inconsistent’

  1. They love to slag off the pundits when they have an opinion on our club but you know what, Charlie hits the nail on the head there. Difficult to disagree with anything he says. If Lanzini steps up this season, so will West Ham.

  2. That’s funny. Charlie Nicholas was the most inconsistent player I ever saw, and completely over-rated when he had a good game. In truth, he was as bad on the pitch as he is now on telly. Not once in this interview did Charlie mention the number of injuries that was the main problem that West Ham had last season. With the exception of Adrian and Randolph, most of the first team squad had an injury at some point between August and May.

    • That’s exactly what I thought before I read the article anyway happy for him to talk our players down, like talksh1te jocks a bunch of clueless rentagobs being paid to say controversial things.

  3. Lanzini can not do it on his own all season . He is still learning and is not physically able to deal with opposition who are determined to kick him out of the game . Unfortunately Snodgrass has not stepped up and Feghouli is on way out . Would have loved to see Cullen given a chance but we really need to buy quality to provide opps for or new strike force .

    COYI

    • That’s about right, bubbles………. It’s time for Snodgrass to go with Feghouli. I’m sure he will be on his way in January if not by the end of this transfer window. Hopefully Cullen will feature in the second half of the season.

    • I agree bubbles. And with just 2 assists last season he needs help and Chicharito needs service to score. I think us supposedly not going for Ryad Boudebouz who created most chances in Europe at 117 over 70 met tgt and 11 goals and 9 assists.
      We wanted Gylfi he is same age not as good from dead ball but better from open play and cost £40m cheaper. Think him and Lanzini would be perfect. And Snod and Feg go is #10 and RW can cover Antonio. Being opposite side of Lanzini and both Versatile I think they would work great together. And at this price to much of a risk not to get, £10m maybe less seals it and he wants a move so not another Payet situation.
      We need to take a loss on Snodgrass he is a RW and that’s it Bilic doesn’t use him there and we will get more money back for him now then we will next summer. £6-£8m we could get. And wages off and buys us Ryad.
      Lanzini created more assists when its not all on him so needs help and Antonio can cords w 5 assists but but creative especially and Marko who knows yet…

  4. Poor analysis from Nicholas, I wonder how many West Ham games he watched. Our two big problems were defensively down our right side (signed Zabaletta) and finishing off chances (signed Hernandez). My biggest worries this season are the older players, this could be Collins, Noble and Fonte’s last season and they are all showing signs of being a bit off the pace. It’s puts extra pressure on Reid/Ogbonna and Obiang/Kouyate to stay fit.

  5. Calling Noble a donkey is showing pretty poor or next to no gratitude for a True and loyal player who has fought every inch of the way for West Ham .

    • If that was a response to me I clearly did not call him a donkey. I can’t see anywhere on this thread him being called a donkey. He has been a great servant to the club and we look better defensively with him in the team. And the fact he played through a hernia is testament to the measure of the man. I hope his drop in form was due to carrying this injury last season, time will tell.

  6. Actually if you took the time to take off your claret and blue glasses you would realise that Nicholas has often,very often stuck up for us on soccer saturday when others have been far more critical.
    Ex footballers can be right you know,even if you believe yourselves too know more lol

  7. Actually I think Nicholas is pretty accurate with what he said . The thing is we all saw how Lanzini was left in the lurch by , you know who . It took a while for him to get into his new role but he did eventually get there . Looking for good things from him this season .

  8. I know it’s only pre season but I’m just watching us against city and we have a long season ahead with our defense ..just conceded a laughable goal ..YeH its city any yes its pre season but Jesus that was bad

    • Like what you did there, Jesus. Nice.
      but yeah, we are a shambles at the back. we were last season and haven’t sorted the problem. An ageing Zabs won’t do much. There’s reason City f*cked him off. Need a decent CB to play alongside Reid. Oggie and Fonte are far from good enough. Would rather have Ginge. He might be slow but is more effective.

    • We haven’t fixed out defensive issues since Slav came in except for Zab now Fonte is off more than on. And I see us linked w Kone again. Who don’t want his attitude and would prefer someone younger. Mid 20s. Rather Smalling than Kone for same price. Jansson could do the job. Tom Lees @ Wednesday. Ginge is great cover and Fonte just to streaky. Buying older has hurt us. Reid i love and on his day is great but he and Ogbonna only played 50 games btwn them in past 2 seasons. We need a Fit capable experienced but not old CB to be the Focal point. So any other CB can come in and pair with him. Bc feel Slav will go back to back 3 and Zab isnt a wing back but we were defensively the best w 3 @ back but slows our attack some.

  9. this City game is a good run out for fitness but City look mlies ahead of us fitness wise could be a long season ahead we defo need a young centre half as Fontes legs look gone 😣

  10. A whole season ahead of us and already Zabaleta & Fontes are showing there’re not up to it
    Oh dear oh dear . But , you never know , the season hasn’t kicked off yet . Let’s just call them a bit Rusty for now .

    • Not sure how Zab was showing that he did a good job of defending while he was on, as for Fonte I don’t think he is our best option at right cb, Collins should play there, Rice should play in place of Noble who was not at his best today, Martinez showed he was not out of place up front despite being starved of the ball for most of a half where the midfield didn’t get close to a very well organised City team. All 3 goals were poor defensively, if Zab had been playing I am fairly certain we wouldn’t have conceded the second and third where Byram got caught out positionally and we also scored a perfectly good goal which was disallowed. Like others have said in other posts these preseason friendliest are mostly just for getting fit and we had another good run out today hopefully Arnaotovic isn’t injured he looked like he might have pulled a muscle.

      • Pre season abroad is not just about fitness 32 , just because some say it is dose t mean jack ! Its about bonding together and making good a plan or plans for the coming season , its about building confidence as a team and Individually , its about coaches getting hold of players and telling them where they need to improve and what they are doing wrong and to make them a better player , i dont see that personally right across the board, its not happening and its plain to see , I have my doubts about the coaches and their tactics ! No body wants them to succeed more than myself , but we do not look solid and comfortable for a while now and that’s worrying me . mourinho , guardiola ,conte would not put up with this sloppiness , that’s the difference here 😟
        Bilic is to nice for his own good IMO 😟

    • No keV ! Let’s say shyte 😎

  11. Our squad depth is just no were near good enough we definitely nerd 2\3 more signings IMO …another cb another creative midfielder at the very least..

  12. I think we have the problem of the CB’s, Rice looks a great player and the other one is on loan in Germany (Oxford).
    We’ve averaged 2-3 goals after Christmas and just picked up where we left off.
    Our lack of pace all over the pitch is scary, hopefully we are just heavy legged, but Man city have travelled the world pre season and they all looked sharp, maybe that’s what you get preparing against Real Madrid, Tottenham and Barcelona, vs us against 4th division german teams.

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