West Ham’s problem in buying a top midfield cover for Declan and Tomas is pretty simple!
Much was made of the Alex Kral rumour – which is all it ever was – but the fact that the Irons admit he would only be a transfer prospect were either of our two defensive midfielders to leave says it all.
He’s too good for the bench!
It’s fine having European football on our agenda this season but a top player such as Kral is not likely to walk out of a three year contract in Moscow to fulfil such a scenario.
Our top pair in midfield are both indispensable members of the squad who have built a terrific understanding with each other.
With the priorities being Jesse, a top striker and central defender the Hammers are spending their money where it matters.
Fabian Balbuena is on his way and whilst Oggy has been brilliant it’s obvious that at 33 a long term replacement is required along with cover for Craig Dawson who himself is the wrong side of 31.
The striker scenario is obvious and right now appears to be a choice of either Tammy Abraham or Prague’s Abdallah Sima.
In my opinion it would be a poor decions not to get another defensive midfielder and likely will prove very costly. I certainly don’t agree that he’s to good to sit on the bench because he simply won’t be on the bench he will be used part of squad rotation, starting in a 3 man midfield and would be great to bring on to shore up the midfield when we are defending a lead.
Also extra games likely mean more injuries which as we know easily derail a season.
Kral is exactly what we want, do not understand the thinking of Moyes if this article reflect his thinking. For sure Rice and Soucek will not play every game next year and by bringing in a top CM it will evenly split the workload and even in the tougher games we can play 3 tough midfielders in what Moyes is notorious for so I cant see any logic here. Secondly the signing of Abraham will be a terrible decision as he no where near good enough for a team wanting to finish in top 4, has not the x factor totally vindicated by not being considered by Chelsea and also just simply does not suit our system. Furthermore why would we consider giving one of our main competition for top 4 (if we are thinking of top 4) 20-25m so we take a player they want rid of and then they can use the money to strengthen their team – what an incredibly silly decision it would be.
I don’t understand the issue with a bit of squad rotation. 38 prem games, minimum 2 games in FA Cup and Carabao (hopefully more) and a minimum of 6 Europa league games. We will be looking at around 50 games this season – no way Soucek and Rice can play every minute of a every game. Noble is not the answer. We need options as well like moving to a midfield 3 or if Rice and Soucek get injured. A squad in Europe should have 2 players for every position realistically.
We know Dec and Tomas are brilliant but I agree with Shep we need cover and competition for Prem plus Europe. Also although in a minority I don’t fancy Abraham, he is not prolific and can’t get near Chelsea first team so why is he our ‘top option’?
This could possibly be Krals decision. He will be looking to play on a regular basis. Moyes won’t give any guarantee of first team football.
Fair point 66. Regular football is one reason behind Balbuena’s departure, as I understand it. Shame, he’s been a fine player for us and I would have been happy to see him line up alongside Ogbonna more often recently. All the best, General.
Top teams need strong squads not just starting eleven. Most of them could put out two teams of top draw players each week, no one there is guaranteed a starting place, why should it be any different with us??
Strong competition for every place will keep us at this level, not many players from the Russian league will walk into a top PL club
I’m not sure the Alex Kral ‘rumour’ has been ‘all it ever was’.
Realistically, West Ham can hold on to Declan Rice for another season, two at the outside, then one of the Super-rich clubs will come in with an offer he (and West Ham Board) simply won’t refuse.
The lure of playing in the elite games and making £250k per week, will simply be too tempting, and who can blame him?
Simpy put, this transfer window, when a number of clubs and leagues across the globe are financially desperate, is a real opportunity to build a deep and young squad for Moyes to mould into a consistent top 8 team for years to come, knowing there’s a big money coming in for Dec next summer.
This is a difficult one. We do need cover and he will play different system for instance you could push Tom further upfield for whatever reason such as chasing a goal as we all know . He is like a second centre forward. Its obvious that its not just a rumour about Kral but we need a centre forward Mikey is out to often. Sima for me due to his versatility