Admission time: I did not bother to stay up til silly o’clock to watch the rescheduled match against Wolves. So I have caught up on opinions and like most I suspect have had to try and glean some insight from a five minute highlights reel.
Three things stood out: Kurt Zouma only has one speed now, and it is ‘slow’. Jogging back, jogging forward, jogging to track fast-disappearing opposition forwards who go on to score: A great player in his heyday, but Chelsea knew what was coming when they sold him.
His first season was a mix of bravery and first aid but he is clearly not up to first team football. How West Ham’s second centre back feels, going into each game with a partner as mobile as a planted tree, is easy to see by the shaky performances of Mavropanos and Aguerd last season.
Secondly: No surprise, really, to any observer from last season: Mo Kudus is the ‘real deal’ and should be cherished as long as the club keeps him. Always a goal threat, strong, skilled – goals in both his left and right feet now. Make no mistake, £85 million will be on the table by next June
And third: Thomas Soucek’s days as a defensive midfielder under Lopetegui must be numbered. His stats last year for losing possession, misplaced passes etc weren’t good and giving away the ball by his own penalty box, leading to Wolves’ first goal, only draws attention to his shortcomings. I love the guy’s commitment but in my flaky faux-coaching brain I’d see him more successful as a substitute number 10 to emulate Peter Crouch. Where is the replacement though .. Freddie Potts ?
Beyond that – can’t really tell much more from a quick five minutes but I’ll put in my graveyard shift next weekend against Crystal Palace, pulling an all-nighter and hoping that our second game in Florida goes ahead on time but more importantly hoping that we have definitive news of new recruits signed and sealed if not delivered by then.
We knew at the end of the season that Zouma was spent. What is interesting is how much did that affect the partners – should we keep Aguerd ?. But we know we need urgent reinforcements.
Agreed!
Aguerd is an international player and bought due to his ability.
Has said wants to leave due to premier league pressure.
Zoom(a) would have put unnecessary pressure on Aguerd due to his inabilities.
Moyes handing him captaincy just masked how incapable he was.
With a different partner (Kilman) Aguerd should be a different player.
Or switch him to left back as cover for Emerson.
Nobody is going to buy Zoom(a) and don’t think he is reliable enough for bench.
Totally agree. ANYONE who watched games where Zouma played last season would agree that he can’t last 90 mins of a premier league game and that fullbacks and center back partners a-like had to cover for him too many times.
I’m a fan of Aguerd and the fact he worked his way back from a devasting injury when he arrived. You can’t train raw pace and he’s got it, maybe not enough beef for a truely special defender but I look forward to seeing him line up with Kilman and hope that a few good showings and clean sheets settles him into that partnership and encourages him to stay put.
1) Urgently pay Zouma out of his contract
2) Find a new club for Soucek
Move on
The club aren’t paying out £6-7,million to pay anybodies contact out.
Find a club for Soucek. How does that work then?
Zouma and Kane have a lot in common when it comes to ‘planted tree’!! 🤣🤣🤣
Calling time on people’s careers after a pre-season game that you didn’t watch?
You realise you don’t have to write a (bad) article every day right?
A game review based on what others have written and constant transfer non stories from hearsay.
totally agree
Seems everyone wants to be negative
Not happy unless they’re having a moan
Seems to be in most of our fans DNA to be honest
Still a month of the transfer window to go
A pre season friendly with mainly youth players
(Which I recorded and watched this morning)
Players getting used to a totally different style
How long did it take Bournemouth to adjust last year? Almost 1/3 of the season
Yes Zouma is probably finished, but we knew that last year
DM will be Alvarez so that’s that question answered
How about some positivity?
He is hardly being ultra negative. You may say everyone knew Zouma was crocked I think that is true but until the last 2 months nobody was mentioning it, it was like the elephant in the room. Personally I would have concentrated on getting shot of Zouma and kept Ogbona because even though he was very old and quite slow I think he was more reliable the hurt Kurt
Zouma’s crocked. He needs to go really but is not likely to be sought after so is likely to be around until his contract expires.
Pay out his contract and let him go,make space for someone useful,the big man is nowhere near the standards required for the Toughest fastest league in the world anymore,tbh i think Zouma is 5th choice centre back these days, Casey is a better option.