David Moyes’ ‘Buy British’ agenda this summer is being welcomed with open arms by many fans!
It seems that the disaster that has descended upon us in the shape of Covid 19 has sharpened minds and focused attention on where the game should have been some time ago.
It may be one of the upsides of the Covid scenario as far as football is concerned because the devastating financial effects for all clubs, notably those towards the bottom of the pyramid, means that sanity finally returns to the game.
Let’s be brutally honest! Our marquee signings in the shape of Haller and Anderson have not been able get anywhere close to the form which such fees demand.
Jarrod Bowen at less than half their prices has already shown what a magnificent signing he will become. Ok Soucek’s not British but whoever was responsible for the signing at around £18 million needs to take a bow.
The ‘spend your billions’ anthem which has dominated the fans attitude over too many summers is being replaced by a new reality and that’s just great.
Common sense, financial prudence and a value for money have not been at the top of the list with many clubs over too many years.
The pandemic has changed everything and the biggest point of all is that in David Moyes West Ham have a manager who will act in the way he always has done and is entirely suited to the circumstances.
With care, prudence and knowledge of the Best of British he is probably the right man in the right place at the right time.
Not sure I wholly agree with that Hugh, although his form isn’t always there Anderson has class and ability, in Pellegrini’s team he looked a better player, if he can adopt a more direct style, he could be the surprise next season or alternatively we should hopefully be able to raise some money for him. Haller is slow but again the system isn’t right if you pay £45m for a player that is at their best when operating in a 2 or 3 man forward line then imho play to their strengths doing otherwise diminishes your asset. Haller has shown high quality finishing ability and a few world class saves stopped him scoring more goals.
Fair comment 32
Hmm, back to this ‘British’ nonsense. I read here yesterday that Czech’s tend to be technically good players who adapt well to our league, when discussing Soucek’s old team mate who’s available for £3-4m and today Moyes’ ‘Buy British’ (which I’ve heard him say nowhere) means he’s the right man at the right time.
Nationality makes absolutely no difference to loyalty, ability or desire. For every Anderson there’s 10 Di Canio’s.
Still, no better way to stoke the nationalism of those ‘die-hard’ Hammers fans that we all know and love, eh?
One of the main reasons for the flood of foreign signings had been the overpricing of British players.
I am not so sure country of origin has been the cause of problems with signings – Kieron Dyer, Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshire form part of a long list English players who could be argued were marquee signings but were hardly a success
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Fair comments, Hugh, and in our new financial reality will we be able to recoup even half the transfer fees paid for our expensive marguee signings and to move on other misfiring high earners? I don’t see Moyes being able to reshape his squad as quickly as he may want to if he needs to sell in order to buy. So many attractive looking players have been mentioned here in past few days – but are we really in a position to afford them? I hope we don’t all get too frustrated if we don’t see a stream of new players coming in straight away.
Just to add I don’t care where players come from. They can be British or from anywhere as long as they are good enough to improve the team, have the right attitude and want to play for West Ham United. Moyes has shown with Souchek and Bowen that he’s looking for value in the Championship and elsewhere. My point is that he may not have as much room for manoeuvre as he would like due to the current squad and our financial circumstances.
British is best; British players and managers know the history of the clubs they play for, and more importantly what the supporters expect from them, which includes passion and honesty. Foreign players are mostly, with a few excellent exceptions, money-grabbing journeymen who on first playing in the Premiership approach the game like scared rabbits caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Harsh, agreed, but that’s my opinion , in 50 years of supporting this club; a lot of you keyboard warriors won’t agree with this viewpoint, but a lot of other less vocal fans will
It seems certain that we will need to move players on in order to buy younger, better players, regardless of nationality. Assuming we want to move on some high earners, I am looking forward to hearing from the club that wants Jack Wilshire for £100k a week or close to it.Why else would he move with about a year left on his ridiculous three year contract. Also expecting several Premiership outlets to offer Yarmolenko £110, 000 a week to use one foot as well as paying us a transfer fee. Lanzini is bound to be popular too because everybody wants a player that will never again be a force in the Premiership, although we could throw in a Swiss striker that doesn’t and a Spanish goalkeeper that can’t as makeweights. You get my drift I’m sure. We have bought so many underperforming players that chickens are now coming home to roost big time. We will struggle to add two Championship players for next season unless we attract outside investment.
We can all find examples of great English players that were unfortunate to have their careers ended by injury. They scrape out a career based on their former greatness, they manage their injury by not playing much. They know their days are numbered so who can blame them for trying to prolong their living as long as possible. We all know the injuries mean they will never be the same player they was, but there’s always the hope that maybe, just maybe, they can return to firmer greatness. Hardly ever happens. I’m talking about Wilshere, carrol etc. However for every British player like that, there’s also a Rio, a carrick, a Lampard a Defoe Etc. Bringing these players through is key because they don’t cost anything. You can buy them though. Bowen, Antonio, cresswell etc from lower divisions in the hope they’ll make the step up.
All in all British is best by far. The foreign football is ok if they have one key thing. If they are a hard worker. If they are like souchek. For a hard worker we can forgive a multitude of lesser attributes.
No one wants to see a lazy player no matter how talented or skilful in my opinion. That’s why Haller and Anderson types are not for me. I don’t care where they came from or how much they cost if they can’t do basic graft.
I agree Hugh. Been a long time coming. The top class football laagues have been ruined by inflated prices and unscrupulous agents. Although many footballers also play the BS game, hiding behind their agents. It’s been easy enough to fall out of love with top tier modern football but this is a great opportunity to try to get some sanity back again. DM is certainly the bloke to take us forward with whatever happens. The fans need to back him with reasonable expectations too.