By Rich Sprent

STRIKERS!

Hugh stole a march on me when he wrote about that West Ham should be maybe looking at English strikers rather than expensive imports. And earlier this week fellow blogger, Niall McDonald, quoted Arsene Wenger on the C&H Facebook forum, “You don’t scout the best players – you just need money to buy them.”

After the Chelsea cup game I wrote this:

“What Antonio really showed is what we are missing to complete this team. The forward for this balanced and wonderful West Ham team needs to be able to create space for himself. He needs to hold the ball up to bring others into play and to take the pressure off the defence. He needs to have pace and be strong. He needs to have the ability to terrorise International defenders week in, week out. That’s what Mr Sullivan should have said he was looking for. Not someone with a flashy price tag and a reputation overseas.”

I received a comment or two that I ‘didn’t want much’ as I’d ‘described top strikers’. Yes, but I’d also described the role that Antonio had so brilliantly filled. And he’s a winger albeit one with a fantastic athleticism and attitude.

There’s no mystery in throwing tens of millions at a ‘top name’ overseas. Lacazette has been scoring for fun in France these past two years. We courted him and fellow Ligue 1 striker, Michy Batshuayi. We got neither. Carlos Bacca has an amazing goalscoring record. He didn’t fancy E20 either and stayed at Milan but is apparently available again in January.

French forward Alexandre Lacazette takes part in a training session WEARING THE RIGHT COLOURS Getty Images)

The result was we ended up with a winger from Swansea who may or may not work out; a South American DS loan special who has fluffed his lines when in front of goal so far and Simone Zaza.

Here is a player who scored for fun in Serie A for Sassuolo in a front three alongside two very quick forwards. He also managed eight  goals whilst keeping the Juve bench warm last term but has looked like a fish out of water in the Claret n’Blue.

Eessentially he does not fit into the job role description stated above. He is simply not being allowed to show what he is about. He either has to adapt very quickly to what’s expected of him or the team play to his strengths instead.

I also wrote about the current system and described that Antonio played an essential part of making it work as the lone forward. I highlighted the issue that neither Lanzini or Payet were on hand to support him with his lone foraging runs. That we only scored v Stoke when he was pushed uptop alongside Ayew should not be ignored.

Big Andy is well suited to the target man role of course as he’d hold the ball up for the rest of the team allowing the twin ballplayers to do their stuff. We’d lose the pace aspect but he’d be at a similar pace to the rest of the team. Sadly, counting on the Geordie to be fit to fill the role has proved to be virtually impossible.

Andre Ayew is a winger or a forward to play maybe in the #10 role. He may prove to be adequate as a lone forward. He would have to work very hard to busy an opposing back four. He doesn’t look as if he’d be challenging much for any aerial balls sent his way.

Callieri looks to be hit and miss. Fletcher, appears to have all the tools, but is not being trusted to take the responsibiliy. That looks a shame and maybe he’d be better of being loaned out to show what he can do in a Championship side challenging for promotion.

Now we come to Diafra Sakho. Is he over his injuries? Does he want to play for West Ham? Is he off in the window? Whatever the answers, here is a gem of a player plucked from Ligue 2 for a song and a half.

His tireless running at the back of defences, strength, selfless channel runs and goal threat shows that he of all is closest we have on the books to fill the job role required.

The proof is in the pudding as they say. He has not played since May. It is now mid November. Expectations may be a little high for him to have an immediate impact. There is also the doubt that he may play within himself to stay fit to secure a potential move out of East London.

If the owners could secure Lanzette and he doesn’t flop then hurrah! Tea and medals all round at a probable £40m transfer plus mega salary with more clauses than a Santa convention in December.

Until someone of his ilk is actually available to West Ham then the choices become tougher to make. When known goalscorers like Zaza fail so miserably it really does make sense to buy someone who knows the league. Daniel Sturridge is apparently available. He doesn’t need scouting for sure. If he is truly available and accessible to West Ham then it will be because he is damaged goods. His injury record, although not as bad as Carroll, is poor to say the least. He’d be an amazing acquisition but could he stay fit?

There are players outside the top top top players that could fill the role and don’t need to be scouted. I’d list the following players as fitting the job role close enough to bring balance to the current Hammers team. Yes they’d cost a fair bit. They wouldn’t be gambles in settling in however:

Josh King and Callum Wilson at Bournemouth – both very mobile, good in possession, pacey and a real handful for defenders.

Danny Ings at Liverpool gets a mention but sadly has joined the long term injury list.

Andre Gray at Burnley is a favourite of mine. Like Wilson, he ticks all the boxes required. He is a constant thorn in the side to defenders and can really play.

Watford’s Troy Deeney has been linked. Now he is not blessed with pace but like Carroll he holds the ball up. He also can be relied on being available for selection as he has shown that he is rarely injured. He’s a fighter and leads from the front. Leicester failed with a £25m bid however so wouldn’t come cheap.

The options are there. They may not be everyone’s cup of Darjeeling. But the list for me makes more sense than gambling on a foreign import who may or may not do well.

Maybe if we cannot find that absolute top man we should look to someone who could tick as many boxes as possible over a short period. I’m not talking about just a loan signing. I mean to get someone who allows us to compete until we can secure forwards who will take us to that next level.

Until we find someone that is an absolute stone banker of an upgrade then there are several players who’d fit the bill. They may not be popular names to most but their performances would be virtually guaranteed to be full of effort and would undoubtedly help the team find that balance so desperately required.

If we wanted a target man to bring the team into play then former Swans striker Bafetimbi Gomis would be perfect. He’s banged in 6 goals in 11 games for Marseille and has a wonderful record of scoring against the Premier League top 4 teams. He is on a season long loan so he may not be available this season.

Leonardo Ulloa at Leicester is a real handful and has proved he can score in the Premier League. The Foxes spent £30m on Slimani. They coped well enough winning the league last season with Ulloa chipping in with half a dozen goals playing mostly off the bench. He got 11 goals the season before.

And then there is Shane Long and Jermaine Defoe.

Surely we are better than this I hear you cry? Look at the books. We cannot sign a top striker. The ones we do manage to get don’t score. We have signed 32 strikers since 2010 who have scored at a rate of 1 every 4.5 games. We haven’t had a striker score this season. 11 league games without a goal from a forward, 17 games in total.

One never gives up and is the archetypical pain in backside for defenders. He has also scored 15 goals in 60 games for Southampton. That’s 1 in 4. Better than we’ve been used to over at least the past six years. He has 3 in 12 this season which is still 1 goal every 4 games. A dependable return.  Long, as we have seen on many occasions, is a competitor. He brings other players into play. He is a handful.

The other is a goalscorer pure and simple. Do we really need to talk about what Defoe can still bring to the table? Defoe is still scoring and looks to be Sunderland’s only goal threat. His stats don’t need to be written here do they?

Either would do more than a job.

Desperate? You betcha.