It’s never wrong to dream – hope and optimism is what should keep us going through life and football.
So as the new season slowly advances upon us, with the signing of Pablo Fornals clinched, and much discussion about bids for Maxi Gomez having been confirmed, excuse me while I fly in the face of the cynics and sceptics.
For I believe that should we land the Celta Vito striker – a deal which most thought was a close to dead deal – West Ham could be on what most believe the next level to be – the top six.
There’s no point in running through the squad again but it will become the strongest we have seen at this club for many years, with the midfield options in particular incredibly attractive, although a second defensive midfielder would be good.
Even should Gomez not arrive there is clearly room in the budget for a decent operator up front and that should bring great hope.
Right now I reckon we need to be looking at Arsenal – apparently on a limited transfer budget this season – as the most vulnerable of the top six clubs and, although it takes a big leap of imagination, should we grab the players we need I don’t think top six is entirely beyond us.
Pellegrini’s track record shows – and he has repeated it many times – that he has made a career of managing European challenging clubs.
That’s the ambition this season and, after a year of maintenance and a relegation free campaign despite so many injuries and poor decisions, I am ruling nothing out at this stage.
Eight weeks to go and counting…exciting times ahead!
Let’s dream big.
COYI
its all because of the new stadium.
Exciting times definitely. But we have to do something about that defence. Pellegrini had a full season to sort that out but we ended up with one of the leakiest defences outside the bottom three. That has to be addressed & given that he could not put it right with the current players there surely have to be some additions in defence if we are to get anywhere near the top six. It may not be very glamorous but you won’t find many top sides who let in as many goals as we have done over the last couple of seasons.
Keep Balbuena fit H64 and the defence isn’t leaky, Diop is rightly being lauded for some impressive displays but Balbuena is the best defender I have seen in my lifetime at the club which spans 40 + years and he is in a squad with Zabaletta who is probably the second best I have seen. Imho we go back to Moore who is before my time for a higher quality defender. He might not be spectacular but he is nearly always in the right position so he doesn’t have to make saving tackles, lets hope his injury doesn’t affect him long term because we have someone really special on our books 😀
You have been spreading the 20-30 million transfer budget + sales – since jan/feb time, so you can hardly fly in the face of any critics/sceptics. It pretty much all emanated from you two and now you wanna say I told you so.
Rubbish – hardly worth the read and had you read the reports properly you wold have seen that it was always more than that. Without anymore sales we are up to £40m and it’s likely to be nearer 60m as previously reported but hey there’s always the knockers. Have a good day.
Lol not rubbish at all. Bless – you guys are so precious when people dont agree with you. You said 20-30 million earlier in the year and then more recently 30 mil + sales, which is what i said.
I’m not knocking the club at all, i am over the moon with how the transfers appear to be going so far – but your 60m, which includes 20m of sales that haven’t happened yet, is hardly going to cover what you’re now suggesting you can fly in the face of cynics and sceptics.
The point you are missing here – is most of us thought the club had more up their sleeve….and well done to them.
In part Kev! Increased match match day revenue certainly helps by increasing the budget to buy the players needed to challenge for the Top 6 positions, and pay attractive wages.
Come on Hugh i thought you were dreaming big, I’ve had us top four before any new signings were made, but then I do have us winning the league at the start of every season, lol. Ever the optimist, COYI’S
Good on yer Lyon
We were going nowhere fast at the Boleyn , that’s for sure . It was a very much needed change and benefits are just now starting to show . Don’t want to upset any Upton Park die hards but it was the catalyst we needed .
COYHAMMERS
It’s not all about the best players you have but also the mental strength of going out on the pitch and wanting to win game after game.
This is something we lacked in a few games last season eg Everton at home,wolves away,wimbledon in the fa cup come to mind.
I agree with you hugh that if we can get in a top class striker we could do well this season but only”if we want it”.
COY!
Nearly there.
The reason we don’t do so well against ‘bottom – less footballing teams’, is because they make up for skill with energy and aggression. Against Cardiff, Brighton, Burnley, Bournemouth, Watford and Wolves last season we dropped 25 pts – L8, D1. We are going to struggle again getting into an European place with the same style against these type of teams.
Teams who play tippy tappy have players who stop the opposition when needed – Vidal, Marcelo etc. Perhaps Joan Jordan is more of a man than we think.
The
I don’t know if we’re there yet but like you Hugh with West Ham I always live in hope. I think this season the entrance to the top 6 is bigger than ever. With Chelsea having no transfers and Man U and Arsenal needing most of a new team the chance is there,Wolves and Everton will be thinking the same thing so we’ve got to grab our chance COYI
Dream bigger – Chelsea without Hazard, Spuds without Erickson & Manc U are all over the place so Third!!!
Was going to say something similar T, Utd are in freefall, Chelski rely so heavilly on Hazard and will have a new manager so more likely than not they will struggle, Arsenal are also on the slide, Tottenham I think will be ok if Poch stays, he has a very solid system based on effectiveness over flair so anything outside top 3 is up for grabs, VAR should even the playing field and we should hopefully see the benefits as we have been the hardest done by bad decisions over the last 10 years or so.
This is definaltey the season to dream big. Arsenal with a small budget, Man Utd with a manager with questionable ability and potentially half a new squad to gel together, Chelsea with no hazard, a transfer embargo and possibly a very inexperienced manager in charge if they go for Lampard. Last season We were way behind all of them, but opportunities like this won’t cone along very often. Strengthen the team, pray for better luck with injuries and VAR to right the wrongs we felt last season and you never know.
off topic a little, but those of you waiting for VAR to right all the wrongs…i have sad news for you. i live in Australia and we’ve had it here for a bit now. all i can say is “welcome to a new kind of hell”
Calm down. We’ve signed 1 outfield player.
Don’t know if Diops heads been turned.
Anything can happen in the next 2 months.
Why would I calm dow – look at the squad we have, the football we are playing and allow some optimism.
Hey High is there any truth in the rumours this morning that our offer was declined for Gomez ?
We should sell Hernandez and go all out for Gomez he is the striker we need . If the offer was turned down offer more and just get it over the line . He is worth it and I said the same about Anderson !
No they are both on the table from us and Valencia but they are ready to let him leave
Most of our fans are too negative to dream big. Whenever I’ve posted something really positive on social media I get trolled with ‘You ‘aving a laugh’ or ‘You in dreamland?’ or much, much worse!
Optimism is the first tick box on the job description for a hammers fan!
To compete at the top you need the right mindset as well as skill & ability. So let’s hope this season we remember to –
turn up at the start of every game, not just the second half
treat all teams with the same respect
learn how to defend set pieces & corners especially
be consistent & believe Pellegrini about being a big team.
It’s about time we stopped being rude when fortune comes calling and, instead of ignoring her, open the door with open arms and welcome her. This is the season COYI.
I’ll reserve top 6 ambitions until we see the final squad for the season. Also more depends on those teams around us and how they strengthen than what happens at arsenal etc.
Wolves Leicester Everton Watford, add Newcastle. I doubt many of us look at what they are doing but I imagine they are all getting in players as good as fornels.