Former Leicester City and Arsenal striker Alan Smith is one of the more measured and sensible of those among our match day pundits.
He’s not sensationalist for its own sake and always have something relevant and informative to say about the subjects to which he addresses himself during and ahead of games.
And today he makes some more than valid points about the new West Ham and their highly achieving boss David Moyes.
And in observing the form of Manchester United Jess Lingard during the game against Aston Villa he agrees with the manager’s points about not paying out for players who are no better than he’s got and who could have a really detrimental effect on the squad.
It’s a particularly good observation from his column in the London Evening Stadndard in which he takes a keen look at the amazing progress made by the irons this season.
He writes: “It’s a measure of West Ham’s stability and confidence that a player such as Jesse Lingard can arrive on loan and immediately slot in.
That’s much harder to do when shoulders are slumped and points hard to come by. Under those circumstances, the new boy finds the dressing room flat and team-mates unwilling to show for the ball.
But as we all know, it’s the opposite of that at West Ham just now. Everyone is flying within a framework that hardly gets disturbed. If he possibly can, David Moyes avoids change in shape and personnel — always easier, of course, when results keep on coming.
Mind you, Moyes would have known that. I mean, the last thing he wants is to bring in a player who can’t reach the high standards being set at his club.
That would waste everyone’s time as well as possibly destabilising the team. But having asked around at United and received assurances about Lingard’s attitude, Moyes must have looked at the move as something that could give the team an extra bit of quality.
And let’s face it, it’s difficult to find that in any January, not least this last one, when most clubs were unwilling to release talent. But Moyes may just have sealed a deal that will help the Hammers keep pushing for a high finish.”