It can't be......can it?

[Arch Dandy]

You remember when we were struggling to break down all those visiting teams at Upton Park last year. Well a creative player is someone with the vision and ability to produce a pass or a piece of skill that creates a goal scoring opportunity, something that most players wouldn't have the imagination and technique to concieve and execute.

I'm a bit surprised you've got to ask.

Would that make Carlton Cole our most creative player? Or Fabregas the most creative in the league?

[Jackanakanory]

What number did he have before?

11

[pbenjy]

Would that make Carlton Cole our most creative player? Or Fabregas the most creative in the league?

I understand that by the Opta stats Carlton Cole has the most assists for West Ham last season, so on paper the answer is yes, athough 'least uncreative' may be a better expression. I see Carlton more as a battering ram, setting up chances with his strength and power, while someone like Yossi is a bit more subtle.

Fabregas - I don't know the stats, but he seems like a pretty good player. I'm sure that he could do a job for us.

[AVCO76]

personaly, I would rather see him sit on the bench at scouseland every week until his muscles wither away and he can't walk without his knees squeaking.

[GaryP]

No thanks.

He wont get much of a game at City either.

[kitthehammer]

I always likes Yossi and we certainly need some creativity. However as others have mentioned, we have a dearth of right sided midfielders now, although i fear he is probably better than the ones we have. Faubert is hardly setting the world alight, ljungberg i would rather we moved on as he is so expensive. Behrami can play there too.

Forget the way he left - every bloody footballer is like that now - go and read the current loyalty thread....

[sendô]

Forgetting for the moment the whole furore surrounding his departure, would he actually offer the team much?

In terms of starting, where would we play him? We already have Faubert, plus Behrami and Ljungberg on the right. If we play him in the middle, we'd be a bit light weight with only one centre mid who can defend properly - otherwise we'd ahve to sacrifise a striker.

I can see how he'd be useful as an impact player, someone who could give us options, but then the other problem is that he is quite inconsistant.

I don't think we should pay Liverpool what they paid us for him. A cut price £2-3m, maybe.

[Kent Bubble Blower]

Personally, I'm glad his "dream move" isn't turning out to be quiet as good as he imagined (instead, it's exactly what we expected it to be!)
It's just a shame that, it seems, someone's going to buy him so he can't rot on the bench or in the reserves at the Bindippers until his career fizzles out!

But, like the Murphy's, I'm not bitter!

[daniel]

If Curbs does decide to make an offer I think it's because he's looking for someone to play on the left. Fwiw I think we can do better if we're indeed looking for a LW, plus he's probably going to join Tal Ben Haim over at Citeh.

[Mick188]

Id have him back in a second. We missed him badly last season imo

[Messiah]

Personally I would have him back in a heart beat.

But I don't think it will happen. He had a really good season for them last year and played a lot more than I thought he would. I think scored 11 goals last year. The only reason Liverpool want to sell is because they need the money to buy new players.

I don't think Nanni is going to blow £6m on a player we sold for only £4.5m the year before. It would be pretty embarrassing!

[saludo de carlitos]

What's this got to do with Parker?

Because curbs was very angry when parker left for chelsea so you never know mate. curbs may be angry with benayoun, but he may just forgive him as he did with parker.

[I am law]

His impact with Liverpool was often negligible though he did ok against Havant and Waterlooville, and in that embarassing game against those hopeless Turks in the CL. Surrounded by Gerrard, Torres, Masch etc I'd have expected him to do better.

That's a pretty one-eyed view of it, mate. He did some very good work for them in Europe last season.

I regret he decided to leave us.

I doubt he'd be happy about playing RM for us or Satay, to be honest. Satay need to fill a gap there, though.

[Kent Bubble Blower]

Missed him badly?

Yeah, because there was no-one else on the team who was continuously injured but somehow managed to scrape themselves off their deathbed to play for their Country, only to come back injured again, was there?

[daniel]

Missed him badly?

Yeah, because there was no-one else on the team who was continuously injured but somehow managed to scrape themselves off their deathbed to play for their Country, only to come back injured again, was there?

Ljungberg and Bellamy :lol:

[MK HAMMER]

Ljungberg and Bellamy :lol:

collins?

[Kent Bubble Blower]

I rest my case!

[Hambrosia Stu]

I agree with that.

BUT, there is actually a bit of me that would take him back and be quite excited about it. A little bit of extra creativity we need.

Now, where's that "sitting on the fence" smiley.......

:lol:

It's quite a toughie

A large part of me would be against it. Partly due to the manner of his departure, but moreso by his behaviour after his first season with us. The inconsistancy, the seeming indifference to our cause when Israel games were looming, and the frustration of watching a player who often over elaborates

That said, I can see how he could be a great signing for us. Imo, we need a player who offers what we don't have(ideally who can play on the left, or through the middle). That is creativity. With the likes of Dyer, Bellamy, maybe Faubert, we have the pace, combined with the vision, to make things happen in attack. But we don't really have a trickster. That is someone who can go past his man with skill (not pace), someone who can engineer a pass where it doesn't seem possible, someone with the skill and vision to pick out intelligent runs. Someone who can make something from nothing

I'm not totally convinced that Yossi is 100% that player, but he showed plenty of glimpses of that in his first season, and the odd moment since. If I thought he could consistantly bring that 1st season form back to West Ham, I would be happy enough to bring him back

I do think certain things would be in our favour, were he to return. Previously, he had little competition for his place. If he was fit, he would play. I got the feeling he started to feel he was the main man, in terms of skill at any rate. It seemed he didn't have the same desire he had in his 1st season, almost like he felt he'd made it, and relaxed. Were he to return, he'd have a lot more competition for his place, so he'd only play if he was in form and motivated. I do think he would blend well with what we currently have

So whilst I'm not dead against, and I do think what Yossi would bring to the side is something we should be looking to bring in, he's not a person I'd be busting a gut to bring back. Though if we can get him on a fairly cheap deal, surprisingly I'd have no real objections

[mutu_20]

We're crying out for a player like him. Probably would have him back if he wanted to move.

This is pure fabrication, though. He's happy at Liverpool.

[Kent Bubble Blower]

We're crying out for a player like him.

We were in desperate need of a player with his attributes (when he can be bothered to use them) last season, mainly due to the sheer amount of players we had out injured. It's a bit early to assume that we're still lacking in that area.

We've got Dyer, Faubert and Parker back from injury now, plus the new guy, Behrami, all are reportedly capable of turning a game around with a sudden burst of creativity.