West Ham need a striker and a left back in the winter window – that’s for sure!
I was petrified when Aaron Cresswelll went down and we were told that Ryan Fredericks was being readied to take his place off the bench. Now is no time to be playing guys out of position!
The Haller goal was extraordinary but it’s become obvious that a back-up front man is required with Mikey Antonio likely to be missing now and again.
Since David Moyes’ arrival we have seen the arrival of Bowen, Soucek and Coufal – three of the best signings in several years but there’s more to it than that.
None of them – unlike for example £100,000 man Jack Wilshere – will be on more than £60k a week and probably less given the rates of pay at Slavia Prague and in the Championship are considerably less.
Based on transfer fees we could expect Jarrod and Tomas to be earning around £50 to £60k a week whilst Coufal is probably on around £30k.
There’s obviously been a scouting improvement going on at the club given all that and we will be looking at the lower divisions and countries such as the Czech Republic for future signings seemingly. Let’s hope we are finding others but Brexit beckons.
Make no mistake, wages are going to have to come down at West Ham and clubs like ours if they are to remain solvent over the next couple of years following a devastating pandemic. Sorry Mr Greedy Agent you will suffer too.
Who for example could have ever believed that Christmas could be all but ruled out – realism is called for.
With the manager and board obviously working closely on such signings I’m confident we will head in the right direction.
Marquee signings should be a thing of the past for now and hopefully for a long time to come as post Brexit the game goes back to its roots which is seeing us prosper the Irons prosper as a result.
Realism before the “spend millions” mantra is the way forward if we want this club to move forward rather than flounder into a financial disaster.
In the meantime would seem the two positions at the front and back need filling either by very cute permanent signings or a couple of decent loans.
COYI
Shared your concern when Ryan Fredricks was warming up. Why was Johnson not on?
As for the wages, hope you are right. Definitely need a “correction”, but blame the rich teams, not the players. The “Big 6” are the source of the problem as they spend without consequence, inflating prices and wages.
Exactly right but it’s been obvious we have needed a forward for a long time now …only now that we are struggling a little in them areas people are being more vocal about it ,,but it should of been sorted a long time ago..mind you we have been great this season and apart from Antonio been injured, been lucky with injuries…cant keep relying on luck though..a striker should be first port of call in January
Back up front man? Will Troy Deeney be happy to fill in when Antonio can’t make it? Jordan Hugill would have been perfect. Will anyone of quality be ready to accept the role of ‘third preference’? If so, you may have to question his motivation. I think we need to look more closely at the players we already have before getting more to temporarily fill in now and again.
Antonio initially broke into our first team as left full back. He did a very decent job there, too. Gareth Bale went to Tottenham from Southampton as a left full back. Why do we think that Ryan Fredericks can’t play the position? He is a PL footballer after all – should be able to make a fist of playing any position.
COYI
I am not convinced that Fredericks is a PL level right full back. He is better as a wing-back but, like Masuaku, he’s does not look like a natural defender. Antonio wasn’t either, for that matter. Not all players can defend on both flanks equally well. Johnson is a far better bet, in my opinion, to cover both flanks and should be on the bench at least.