As West Ham United assess their options for bringing in new recruits on what is likely to be a shoestring budget, Nuno Espírito Santo could do well to take a leaf out of David Moyes’ book in assessing the character of those he plans to recruit for the battle of attrition that lies ahead next season.
The “Moyes MOT” – as it was termed – was his own assessment of the mental resilience of the player he was considering. Many were deemed ‘unsuitable’ thanks to the Scot’s gut reaction that they were not team players or perhaps wouldn’t be up for a fight.
West Ham must address their leadership void this summer – even if skipper Bowen stays
However it did often seem as if the ‘Moyes MOT’ was cited as a smokescreen for his dithering – Nuno will have his own ideas on how to filter out those not in tune with his own team ethic.
It seems he’s already ended the West Ham careers of James Ward Prowse and Jean Clair Todibo over their mental attitudes rather than their on-pitch performances if rumours are to believed. Todibo in particular seeming one who has all the talent yet comes up short on self discipline, having fallen out with just about every manager he’s played under.
Todibo – played his last game at West Ham
The NYTimes on Thursday identified the key weakness that Nuno must fix before embarking on the Championship campaign:
“Leadership void:
There was a lack of leaders in the team following the noticeable releases of Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma and Vladimir Coufal last summer….
Bowen has not coped well with shouldering the burden of responsibility, but Nuno can ease pressure on the attacker — if he stays — by recruiting more experienced pros this summer.
It worked to his benefit at Nottingham Forest, where Nuno leaned on the leadership of quartet Nikola Milenkovic, Ryan Yates, Chris Wood and Nicolas Dominguez. Barring Bowen, only Tomas Soucek has leadership traits. It is a huge void, and one Nuno must urgently address.”
Particularly as reports claim a good influx of Academy talent is likely to be grafted into the senior squad: Bowen, Soucek and Mavropanos seem to be becoming crucial assets to retain for their leadership ability almost as much as for their playing skills.
You’d still expect the West Ham manager to graft in a couple of seasoned old professionals to do the same kind of job that Kevin Nolan did for the team in 2011/2. From where, and for how much will be the crucial factor as the Hammers will certainly not be awash with funds this summer.
Could do with drafting Nolan in to build team spirit, we need more coaches and we need to hold onto Jemez.
Very true we lack a vocal leader on the pitch.
Were Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma and Vladimir Coufal really that though? I don’t physically go to many games so could well have missed it but these guys mainly led by example too? Cresswell was one but he had faded badly on the pitch if we are honest.
If we are serious about seeking advice from someone who knows how to put a team together for assured promotion, we could do worse than consulting Sam Allardyce.
Sam added vital players to the team, including a captain, and was successful at the first attempt.
Do me favour Taffy, BFS was outcoached by Brian Mc’Dermott and Aitkens who had just gained promotion from league 1.
The football he precided over was some of the most uninspiring I’ve witnessed. He had the biggest transfer budget in Championship history and peed over all of our DNA and attempted to manage our expectations by suggesting he was doing us a favour by being our manager with his no tippy tappy rhetoric.
That’d be a hard no from me Taffy.
He got the job done DJ.
We could do with another to do a job now.
No matter what is name is. General point DJ – not a love letter.
Couldn’t agree more. There are a lot of BFS haters, but it can’t be denied he turned the club around and made some good signings to get us promoted. Was it the ‘West Ham Way’ no, but that had long been consigned to the 1970’s. Was it entertaining to watch, no, but neither was Moyesball and we continue to appoint managers obsessed with giving up possession and try to counter-attack. I, had hoped we would bin Nuno and appoint a young manager who would change the style we play. ATM, it looks like we will struggle to get out of the Championship and even if we do we’ll go straight back down again while Sullivan and Nuno are in place.
I was hoping next season would be a stepping stone for rebuilding the team and the way we play .
When we came up under Pardew we played some nice attacking football and got to a cup final in the first season back. . But I’m really not convinced about Numo and his footballing style .
I was hoping for a fresh beginning .
Numo showed some very poor tactical decisions last season .
His lineup for the Fa cup game against Leeds was negative. Leeds played a strong team and used the cup as a springboard for their league run in and it worked , while giving fans a day at Wembley.
Will Numo change his way – I really don’t think so .
Too many back passes , slow build ….
Let’s hope I’m wrong