It’s important not to read too much into an opening day defeat to a very good Aston Villa side in The Premier League.
After all, West Ham are integrating a new philosophy from head coach Julen Lopetegui and incorporating several new players into the squad.
However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t start examining where the squad might be tweaked or improved, especially as the Hammers look to offload some of the deadwood.
Most of the Irons transfer business has already been completed, and as highlighted in a previous blog, another technical midfielder would be beneficial, but I wouldn’t stop there.
It might also be wise to recruit a young, athletic forward to complement a frontline that currently appears quite, erm . . . senior!
Niclas Füllkrug could and should prove to be a valuable addition to Lopetegui’s squad, but he’ll need to adapt quickly as he turns 32 in February. He can’t afford a lengthy acclimatisation period and must hit the ground running.
Currently, alongside Danny Ings and Michail Antonio, none of the forwards can be considered ‘fresh legs.’ Therefore, adding another forward or potentially moving Kudus or Bowen into the frontline might become necessary.
Aston Villa’s second goal showcased youth and pace, with Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran proving too sharp for a retreating West Ham defence.
The identity of Villa’s second goal scorer might prompt West Ham to reassess their recruitment strategy. Whilst it would be wrong to criticise the current transfer activity, some creative solutions, similar to the structure of the Jean-Clair Todibo deal, might be needed. If Tim Steidten can find a way to bring in one more forward, it could be a prudent move.
Don’t think we can afford to wait til Xmas to see if existing striker options will be sufficient. There is no evidence yet to say that they are, even though it’s early days. I wouldn’t be surprised if Duran comes in on deadline day. But it’s a gamble if Villa play him this month and he continues to impress.
What is the point in spending so much money on bringing new players to the club if they are not going to be in the team Aston Villa must have thought Xmas had come early when they saw the starting line up same old players that let the team down last season and are now at it again having been picked to be in the starting line up not a lot different from what we had to put up with under moyes so much for a new beginning things need to change very quickly or it will be a case of fighting relegation yes I know it’s only the first game of the season but starting with a loss means we are already playing catch up with the amount of money spent that should not have been the case COYI
Why do people keep saying this? They’ve hardly had any pre season and haven’t trained hardly at all with the first team. If you look at nearly every team who played yesterday, only a handful of new signings actually started, at least we did 2. I would imagine after another week of training together we’ll see a very different team against palace
And come on, fighting relegation? With a new manager, new Philosphy and 8 new players it’s going to take time. Look at Bournemouth last year
We’re not going to have a real idea for another couple of months most likely
Why are my fellow hammers fans always moaning? Seems not happy unless can have a whinge
I was there Saturday being a ticket holder many supporters around me gave it big why are we starting with basically same set up now no difference from last season ok 2 changes starting please it needs total change of players coming in let’s give them a go playing get used to playing as a unit coyi
We did finish top 10 last season, although the play was dire, none of the players playing yday from last year let us down!
I’d personally put Bowen up top, with kudus, and Summerville causing havoc on the wings.
That’s an extremely dangerous front 3
To go from Duran to the German Ings made absolutely no sense.
4 year deal for a 31 year old on big wages that’s never played in the PL before. Utter madness.
Make no mistake, after 2 seasons we’ll be in the same position as we are with Ings now. Struggling to shift him because he doesn’t want to take a pay cut, effectively meaning he’s taking up a squad space that could go to someone who actually improves us and is more in line with a long term strategy. Rather than, as you rightly say, bringing in another over 30 year old forward to compliment the two we already have on our books.
Not just on yesterday’s game alone, just the whole profile of the player makes me think we will massively regret missing out on Duran.
German Ings? That’s funny.
Thing is, why do people think that Duran is going to get the service he got yesterday with us?
I know £40 million don’t get you much these days but he is just a back up at Villa and £40 million smacks of desperation, even if he looked as sharp as a dart yesterday. You could definitely see he was up for it when he came on. Clearly hoping for the move?
Wouldn’t surprise me if Villa now refuse to sell Duran. Either that or increase the price again. There’s no point waiting until the very end of the window either, because then we’ll look desperate and have to pay even more. It’s a position that is a priority and we look like failing yet again.
They kept on increasing the price every time we up our offer for Duran.
Give the squad a chance for Christ sake
hear hear
Conflicting stories on this one. The version I heard was that we agreed a price with Villa – which would make sense as it was widely reported we’d agreed terms with the player. But it was actually us that moved the goalposts after and tried to get the price down.
Apparently the hope was that the player would cause such a fuss to get the move Villa would be happy to see the back of him and accept a reduced offer.
Let’s be honest it’s not as if we haven’t ****ed clubs off in the past with the way we do business so I’m inclined to think this is more likely what happened rather than Villa constantly upping the price.
We don’t to be worrying about a striker when we have trouble getting the ball from A to B , we need a centre midfield!!! I’d be sorting that out before looking at another striker , we got players that can put the ball away but that’ll only happen by way of a set piece or a long ball up to um , we have no way of playing through teams only hoofing it up the field.
We have Paqueta, Summerville, Kudus, Bowen. All can create chances from open play. But we need to give them the freedom to play. That means having dependable defensive midfielders behind. Once Alvarez is back that will be sorted. Soler possibly coming in could give us another option creatively in midfield. But a striker with pace would help to, not that I think we’ll be getting one
After yesterday I can’t see Duran being sold this season he will stay at Aston Villa for sure.
Based on our opening set of 10 or so fixtures, it’s very possible we’ll only be on around 10 pts – which would have us near the bottom. Sometimes, with ‘scoreboard pressure’ like that, it can be hard to recover. The crowd is quick to get on players’ backs and confidence can disappear fast. I think this season is going to be much tougher than many think
Ivan Toney has been surprisingly omitted from Brentford’s matchday squad this afternoon. His club haven’t yet made an announcement as to why he’s not there. So where’s he off to then?
I’m an admirer of his ability – he’d be a good addition to our squad, which would allow Danny Ings and Michail Antonio to move on, should it happen.
We’ve already tried to move Ings on. He won’t go because no one else is silly enough to offer the sort of wages we’re paying him.
I don’t blame him for that, I wouldnt take a pay cut and move jobs just because it may be convenient for my employer. It’s on us for making such a daft transfer.
I don’t blame him either, but if I was in his boots at 32, I’d want to play every game. The best he’ll get with West Ham is a few minutes if we’re losing or a start against lower league opposite in a cup.
We can always hope. But weren’t we told that we’ve already overspent in this window? So is there money for a striker now, whether it’s Toney or Duran?
BBC saying now that he’s been left out due to ‘transfer interest’. But nothing close
Sky Sports were very late passing on this news, Ian. Which is unusual for them as they’re usually well ahead of the BBC!!
PS. It’s now been announced that Toney was left out today because of transfer interest from ‘several’ Premier League clubs.
I hope the interested parties have the dosh, because he won’t come as a bargain!!
Charley. Papers today saying it’s a Saudi club in talks with Brentford not Premier League. Shame, had my hopes up there for a minute!
We probably paid top dollar for Füllkrug. OK, Toney is 3 years younger but still with a hefty price tag. Not disputing his ability but I think we can do better.
I’m extremely concerned that we have wasted our money on a striker yet again, I really hope to be proved a know nothing regarding the purchase of Füllkrug gonzo
Bloody hell……..can you wait at least until November before you depress us with your doom and gloom?
A view I share.
Not so much doom and gloom but I find myself half agreeing with Dean.
Füllkrug is rather long in the tooth in professional football terms and West Ham tend to do these silly purchases of players with past glory days and not many are going to be like Di Canio and continue to perform to a high quality in his 30’s.
We do need to give both the manager and players a chance to gel together as they need to still train as a team.
I am looking forward to seeing how we do this season but we may not see our true potential until later in the season
Too much judgment being made too early. Can’t please some people. If we buy players we have wasted money and if we don’t we have no ambition.
Get behind the team,be the 12th man for Christ sake.
It’s first game of season still 37 to go time will tell give them a chance. I think you may see a different starting 11 next week against palace.well I hope we do at least 4 changes to the team
£40m loan to buy deal works for west ham ? So go and get him while we can he’s stated that he wants to play for us already. COYI
Duran was up for it and had something to prove.
His actions showed this after scoring.
Any chance he maybe a one goal wonder?
Let’s get one thing right . Last seasons players were no different than Saturday night performance. Nobody seemed to think right I will show you what I’m all about it was same old same old. Need to get the new players in the team and see how it goes. Would have had that and saying they have to gel rather than watching last seasons display..
Duran did more with his limited minutes than all of our strikers combined including Bowen did with theirs.
Also Duran wanted to come to us this may now be a missed chance