West Ham are starting to despair of the Sebastian Haller scenario which is seeing his value drop month by month.
Had there been a buyer at around £30, or even £25, million in the transfer window the club would have taken it like a shot but they saw no interest from anywhere in the player.
There were hopes that he would show some real form in the new campaign in order to see his value rise.
But such has been the form of Michail Antonio, and his own lifeless efforts when appearing off the bench, the club can see no way of getting a fraction of his fee back.
And worryingly for the manager, there is no other striker available should Antonio become injured and he is facing a scan on his hamstring.
Haller is unlikely to get a sniff at the starting eleven all the while Antonio is fit and in form which puts any hopes the club may have of him hitting a streak of form ahead of the January window well on the back burner.
It’s a huge problem for the club which has been discussed by insiders regularly without a way forward being found.
In order to find the answer to Haller, rather than look at him, look at his ex playing partner to see how he played with Haller. Then you might get some idea as to how he scored all those goals.
Haller appears to be a player not suited to the lone striker role, perhaps against certain opposition we can play him alongside Benrahma who can hopefully provide him with the type of service he prefers. On his day he looks class, sadly we haven’t had many of them (sighs).
He excelled in the cup against low quality opposition, the way forward to sell him is to play him against the likes of Fulham and West Brom and hopefully in cup games where we have a lot of possession and can give him good supply. He is a good and accurate finisher, sadly though he lacks drive and determination to shut down from the front.
Well it’s like driving a F1 car off road instead of an suv, it’s not going to perform!
The solution is to use him properly . Even coming on late, he wasn’t used to his strengths but as Antonio mk2, added to that Yarmolenko ( who had a mare) did not play to him and all he had to feed off was high balls from the back to chase not to feet where he needs it.
What did anyone expect? How many other strikers play like Antonio?
For a man who cost around 45m, I would expect him to be a little adaptable. We cannot be expected to change our whole style of play every time Haller comes on. We seem to have found a system that works for us and is proving very successful. Surely it would be better for Haller to try to fit into that system than for everybody else to change their game. The absolute minimum reuired is effort and a degree of hard work when out of possession. When you watch Aguero, Sterling, Ings, Vardy, Kane etc. they are the first line of defence. The days of forwards simply hanging around up front until they get a decent ball are long gone.
To get the best from Haller is very simple. That is not to play him upfront alone. The management should look at how he scored so many goals in the past..
The other opportunity could be for Moyes to convert him to Midfield player.
He’s good in the air, can obviously finish, but, it’s the bit in between that’s missing. No desire to chase, close down, or anticipate. Doesn’t run into open spaces or drag defenders wide.
Wants the ball at his feet or his just not interested. I keep seeing he needs to play alongside someone, but, even so he still needs to make an effort to win the ball back when we’re not in possession. When he plays it’s like we only have 10 men, and the ball keeps coming back like it did against Citeh when Micky and Jarred went off. He is just lazy I am afraid, it’s his mindset and it won’t change. Doesn’t suit the style of football we are playing now which is based on hard work and team ethic. Sorry but he isn’t an asset.
Everyone said all we need is an injury and we will have problems well that day may have arrived. If he can’t hack it in the Premier league get someone who can.
The guy is not suited to playing as a lone striker simple he needs support around him look at the way he played at Frankfurt two quick smaller forwards around him it’s not rocket science
We know that but why change a formation that’s going so well is the point Peter?
I agree Hugh – Moyes job is to for the team to do as well as possible – it would be brilliant if that could involve Haller, but if it doesn’t then Moyes job is to get results not to make Haller happy
One thing that I wasn’t aware of is that a number of his goals in Germany were penalties – does anyone know how many goals he actually scored from open play? Maybe that would explain why we didn’t really face serious competition for his signature
Yes the formation is going well and we are reliant on Antonio using his muscle and speed, but as I said earlier who else in the Premier league can play like that?
and if there is noone else like him, certainly at West Ham then they will have to change style if he gets injured
A lot of people are saying Haller is lazy and couldn’t care less, but I disagree , he is a fish out of water in the current system, but that doesn’t make him either a bad player or disinterested.
When you are up front on your own and the three men in defence are playing little triangles you are chasing your tail as they mug you off. Antonio’s success is holding the ball up, chasing down balls and using his weight and he has experience of playing wide and through the middle. That is not Haller’s forte and he needs someone to link up with, so perhaps Benrahma is the missing link to play alongside him ?
Just watch him in YouTube, looks a world beater, but he played a lot deeper and watch the runners going past him, his set up play is fantastic.
This looks to me as a signing that hadn’t been thought about like so many others Pellegrini made.
I know YouTube only shows the best buys but some of the goals and play is top notch.
Also he also looks more Mobile and a lot lighter, maybe he’s put weight on not playing regularly.
I could see a top European club taking a chance on a loan deal for him with an option, they will just look at our playing style and give him a chance.