Maraoune Fellaini appears to be becoming a serious target for the Irons in this window.
ClaretandHugh reported a couple of nights ago that the Manchester United midfielder was high on David Moyes’ hit list and the Daily ail are now saying the same.
Moyes is known to be a big fan of Fellaini, having worked with him at both Everton and United.
The manager opened up to the Daily Express earlier in the year exactly why he likes the big Belgian who would add some serious bite to the Hammers midfield.
He said: ““He’s never going to be Paul Scholes but he was there to do certain jobs and I think the job he’s doing really well for them.
He’s a really good runner which people don’t give him credit for. Maybe doesn’t have great high intensity speed but he can cover the ground.
“He puts in as much work as anybody and I’ve said this a couple times, I would argue he’s probably got the best chest control in the world. He’s that good.”
The Belgian is out of contract in the summer and would be available at a knockdown fee although his personal demands would be high.
FFS.The same old strategy getting players coming to the end of their career.Haven’t the Muppets seen what a waste Hart and the Pea are with their excessively high wages?Don’t get me going on Carroll.Excluding Rice, the defence is close to retirement age.Is every year now,going to be shoring up the deck chairs on the Titanic so we don’t go down?It certainly looks like it to me.Until there is a realistic injection of money and progressive thinking including our younger players it will continue to be groundhog day for West Ham.IMHO
Hardly a signing to get excited about, he may be a slight improvement in some ways to what we have but we need creativity not someone with good chest control, we are missing players tha tcan retain possession in tight areas and create opportunities 😀
He has the experience, the strong personality and the physical presence we need. However, not a ball passer, 30 years old, and still expensive. He stated recently in a Belgian newspaper that he had only one bad season in England (the first one at manure), and that he doesn’t have much more to prove. He also said he was retiring from the national squad after the world cup. Sounds like he is looking for one last big contract, possibly in China.
Not for us. There are better “6” across Europe for what we need.
Roman- I think you have hit it on the head on most points. It is depressing that we are recruiting so many old players. But we don’t have much choice. The rubbish summer recruitment in the last two seasons means we have been fighting relegation. Makes it risky to go for youth, especially if you have a thin squad with little backup if the young players fail. have always thought Fellaini is a decent reliable player & sadly we are not going to get much better when we are 15th or worse (& I am not sure even he would come). Long term the answer is to bring through you own young players but we have not been brilliant at that. Now it looks as if we may have a few in the pipeline but if you go down they will be off. It is a b***** and no mistake!
64! Sullivan reminds me of going into the supermarket with my catalogue checking out all the weekly specials.I believe he uses the same principle when recruiting. LOL
So we will compound the mistakes from BFS and Bilic and continue to recruit old players With a limited shelf life and no resale value. That’s a far bigger recipe for disaster than taking a punt on younger ones. Moyes comment that he would like to future proof signings but cannot afford to do so currently worries me. It smacks of panic. Buy short term and you’re stuck with them if you stay up, leaving less money available to properly rebuild come the summer. And if we don’t stay up, they failed and still walk off into the sunset with a full wallet. It’s a lose-lose. Ditto loans.
Time someone grew a pair and started to plan on the basis we will stay up, so who can we possibly recruit now who will be able to add value for years to come.
Well said, where’s the investment in players we’ve been waiting for since our move from Upton Park ? If they don’t invest soon the inevitable will surely happen ….time to stop all the bull and put the money on the table …we have no continuity and sad to say : No vision …
Sign his chest and graft it onto anti koto improve his first touch 😂
Nothing to disagree with all comments , what’s new ? We’ve been saying this for months lol
Bottom line sully will not and cannot compete with market value of today and more in the coming seasons while the current board are in charge , forget the next level even though we know it was bull💩 this changed dramatically in the summer when average players went from
10 mill to 30-40 mill , doesn’t look good going forward IMO, they can’t compete because they will not spend the money ! They simply can’t ! Loans. And Goldie oldies the way and suck it and see ! 😉
Anti koto 😂😂 Antonio has a new name according to auto correct 😂
Fellaini could do a job shoring up the midfield despite the anti-rant above. He has positional sense, big elbows, a good engine and competes. He also knows how to work with Mr Moyes’ tactical systems and would be trusted to deliver the coach’s instructions on the pitch. Not one to build a future on, sure, but a midfielder whose relish for aggro could open things up for a ball playing midfielder or existing midfielders to enjoy more time and space. All of our midfielders are being asked to play from very deep, to harass and press, to deny space leaving them with little to offer up front notwithstanding Obiang’s sweet and deserved goal. Fellaini could work well with Arnie, Antonio and Lanzini (if we hold him until summer). We have a frighteningly one paced side, especially in midfield though with the exception of Antonio (when fully fit), and Fellaini wouldn’t offer anything here. But we are in a relegation scrap with 5 points from a potential 12.
As a critic of Mr Moyes I’d still be the first to accept that there’s been a visible improvement in players attitudes, individual discipline and work rate, and tactical understanding of what is being asked of the team by the coach. The team seems to have sussed the logic and purpose of the coach’s system (like that system or not). With a woeful lack of pace across the team, I reckon the deep lying, defensive system favoured by Mr Moyes is his best, or safest option. Post-Slaven the quality of relentless organisation is dull, lacking the creativity and on the ball comfort that only comes from possession. Yet this system is, so far, producing a palpable and much welcomed improvement. Cannot see Mr Moyes as a post-crisis coach but he is humble unlike BFS, and is quietly passionate in redeeming his faltering reputation as a PL coach, and he doesn’t become histrionic or child-like when reflecting on the lack of options bequeathed to him by Slaven and the co-owners. Not my preferred coach, but genuine respect for accumulating 22 points over four tricky games, that includes an evening of refereeing idiocy.
Options: well Shelvey can play a sweet ball, has composure but isn’t known for work rate or dying for the greater cause. No pace either. Not an option given our shortcomings. Joe Allen is lively, sharp, with good movement. He can readily bend to any tactical system he’s asked to play in. Harry Arter is a hard working midfielder and, of course, could do a job for us. N’Dong was a renowned midfield warrior and it’s intriguing how he’s been re-invented (by whom?) as a ball playing/carrying midfielder. Again he’s more than capable of doing a job in our midfield. Carvalho is pricey in both senses and way out of kilter with the co-owners’ “business model”. Would he be up for coming to a flailing side even if the money was right? Would he hit the PL ground running to make immediate impact of would he need time to adjust, time we don’t have?
If we get Fellaini and Allen, or Arter and Fellaini or Allen we’d have added options that might lift the strain off others.
Now Coutinho looks to be off for £145m the club should hold out for £45m for Lanzini and that would be good business. He is definite class, though not the dog’s swingers.
Your know a player can’t be all that good when “having big elbows” is listed as one of his good points. We know new managers frequently raid their old clubs for their favoured players, plus David Moyes has signed him twice before. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he joins. The one reason he might not our because of good salary demands.
£45m for Lanzini! If the Lino cutters come knocking, the auction starts at £75m surely! Calculate what they’ve got in their pocket from the Coutinio/Van Dyke deals and ask for all of it.
And Carroll is now a £30m player – Because Chelski are interested!
Everyone wants to rip us off so time we started playing the same game.
40 mill for Mawson ? 75 mill lanzini , 50 mill sakho if Everton want him but that would be suicide letting him go there lol ? Bang on jimbo we’ve been mugs for as long as I can remember ! Time to play hardball but sully only plays with fido,s ( 5 Bob specials back in the day ) .😉