The summer transfer window 2019 thread

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Turns to Stone
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Turns to Stone »

I think a worry that all West Ham fan have comes from our relegation in 2003.

We had the best crop of youngsters that any side had produced in years, we had a strong fan base and we had some very good International footballers playing at their peak. But we failed to strengthen in the right areas (central midfield and central defence). I think the fact that we had to watch that summer as Cole, Di Canio, Kanoute and Johnson all left, quickly followed by Defoe and Carrick was incredibly hard to take.

This is the fear that I think we all have now. How depressing it would be to fail to make one or two signings in the right area which resulted in us losing all of our fantastic prospects.

I personally don't think we will go down, but I can see why fans are constantly worried when we don't invest in areas that look weak. We've been down this road before.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Het-Field »

Turns to Stone wrote:I think a worry that all West Ham fan have comes from our relegation in 2003.

We had the best crop of youngsters that any side had produced in years, we had a strong fan base and we had some very good International footballers playing at their peak. But we failed to strengthen in the right areas (central midfield and central defence). I think the fact that we had to watch that summer as Cole, Di Canio, Kanoute and Johnson all left, quickly followed by Defoe and Carrick was incredibly hard to take.

This is the fear that I think we all have now. How depressing it would be to fail to make one or two signings in the right area which resulted in us losing all of our fantastic prospects.

I personally don't think we will go down, but I can see why fans are constantly worried when we don't invest in areas that look weak. We've been down this road before.
In fairness, we didn’t strengthen at all. In 2002 Roeder was given the wages of the Bosmans and the loose change from the sofa in the players lounge. We didn’t compete as we spent absolutely nothing. In January 2003 (unlike 1997) we spent about £1 Million on Bowyer, Ferdinand and Brevett. That did make a difference, but it was too late.
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brooking1966
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by brooking1966 »

Turns to Stone wrote:The squad is genuinely looking stronger than ever. Up front we have Antonio and Hernandez who most teams outside the top 7 would be very, very happy with as second-string. We are very strong in wide-areas with Anderson, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Fornals and Snodgrass all high quality and all offering something different.

4 Premier league centre-backs who all (at various times) have been fantastic for us. And the full-backs are good actually. We have 5 full-backs who all offer something different.

The main issue for me is Jack Wilshere. I just don't see him staying fit, and without him we're relying on a 32 and a 33 year-old in the most physical part of the pitch. I also don't think that Pellegrini has enough options in there. If he wants to play an extra man in there he's going to have to draft in Snodgrass or Zabaleta really, neither of whom is a central midfielder.

Having said all that, I'm really excited to see the likes of Wilshere, Lanzini, Anderson, Fornals and Yarmolenko linking up together. It should be a really fun season.
100% Agree although I'd like to see some more steel/presence in the middle as we are a bit too lightweight. I'm sure I've seen Zaba play DM before, him rigidly screening the back 4 could free Rice to be a floating DM/CM putting out fires, intercepting, tackling further forward. We need that combative energy to enhance our play-making little magicians. Vet Zaba playing DM disciplined & savvy screening the CB's he won't need to run far in that position just be the old head guiding Rice/Diop. Furthermore, Zaba can drop into CB for either Diop or Balbuena when they intercept (both do) driving into midfield & beyond.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by YorksHammer »

Doctor Mopp wrote:One area where we are sorely lacking is in leadership, especially in terms of defensive organisation. It stands out when we are in any difficult games especially lower league 'scrapping' teams.
We've got a former club and international captain alongside another former club captain in central midfield, and the player ahead of them most tip to be the team/club captain sooner rather than later. Seems like there should be a lot of leadership and vocal characters in the centre of the defensive unit, especially when Fabianski isn't exactly quiet either.

I see others have said in this thread that Pellegrini looks to be considering ball retention as key, which I certainly think we lacked a little of last season. We cannot and will not play keep ball against every team we'll play this season, for sure, but I think that's a logical route, and particularly what I think we need to be this season is more incisive from deep. It's why I'd like to see either Wilshere stay fit this season to play in the middle of the park more, as he's got slightly more forward vision for me than (for example) Noble.

It's why I also wanted us to sign Teji Savanier in this window, because he had that characteristic in spades last season. He ended up moving within Ligue 1 for £10m or something, from Nimes to Montpellier (his hometown club).
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Hugh Jargon
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Hugh Jargon »

Noble is a great guy. He should be club captain. Rice or Balbuana should be team Capt and wear the armband imo
Last edited by Hugh Jargon on Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Pob! »

Turns to Stone wrote:I think a worry that all West Ham fan have comes from our relegation in 2003.
This is the fear that I think we all have now. How depressing it would be to fail to make one or two signings in the right area which resulted in us losing all of our fantastic prospects.
I personally don't think we will go down, but I can see why fans are constantly worried when we don't invest in areas that look weak. We've been down this road before.
IMO This team is nowhere near relegation, in fact Its one of the best squads we have had for a very long time.
I can't stand the Dave's and the dildo Queen but to be fair they have added real quality over the last 2 summers.
If our leader Pell-Boy can't get a top 10 finish out of what he has got then he would have done a poor job.

I'd still like to see Bradley Dack come in but other than that I'm pretty much happy with what we have.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Gsbgsb »

Genuine question as I have no idea but the general criticism seems to be that whilst we have decent first team players our perceived back up in nearly every position is not good enough. In essence the second team is poor.

How strong are the second teams of the direct competition - Leicester, Wolves, Everton. I do not know but doubt they are much better if at all.

People talk of injuries etc and what if Haller, Yarmolenko and Hernandez were injured - how good would Arsenal be without Lacazette, Aubameyang and Pepe (if/when he signs)?

Yes we might end up with the injury nightmare of last season, who knows, however if everyone is fit our first 11 is very decent indeed on paper and our second string I would suggest at least comparable to many.

If it is true that MP only wants to add quality and not swap back ups for swapping back ups sake then I am happy enough with that.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Croydon »

It seems the counter argument on here to us calling for more additions is that we can only sign 2 good players a season, its a building process, we have no money etc

I do not disagree with any of that.

I do disagree with the notion we have a suitable plan B should 2 key players for us get injured.

I question MP's hesitation to get involved in the loan market. Surely all we really need to cover is wages (and perhaps a small loan fee), and we must be well under budget on that front.
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Voronin
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Voronin »

Julien Snow Bear wrote: This year we will have:

1 Antonio, Michail Gregory*
2 Arnautovic, Marko Haller, Sebastien
3 Balbuena Gonzalez, Fabian Cornelio
4 Carroll, Andrew Thomas* Silva, Xande
5 Cresswell, Aaron*
6 Fabianski, Lukasz
7 Fredericks, Ryan* 
8 Hernandez Balcazar, Javier 
9 Lanzini, Manuel
10 Makasi, Kusu Moses* Cullen, Josh*
11 Masuaku Kawela, Fuka-Arthur
12 Noble, Mark James* 
13 Obiang Avomo, Pedro Mba Fornals, Pablo
14 Ogbonna, Obinze Angelo
15 Pereira Gomes, Felipe Anderson
16 Reid, Winston Wiremu
17 San Miguel Del Castillo, Adrian Roberto
18 Sanchez Moreno, Carlos Alberto
19 Snodgrass, Robert
20 Wilshere, Jack Andrew*
21 Yarmolenko, Andrii
22 Zabaleta Girod, Pablo Javier
23 Diop, Issa Laye Lucas Jean
24 Martin, David*

Plus Coventry, Diangana, Holland, Johnson, Oxford, Powell, Rice.

That means we have a 24 man squad with space for another non-HG player if we want. Or two if we decide to leave out Silva.

It also depends if we decide to include Cullen in the squad or not. But we couldn't leave him out to fit in another non-HG player.

Did I forget anyone?
We only have 7 homegriwns on that list, which means we could fit one more homegrown, but no non-homegrowns
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Sloop John B
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Sloop John B »

Croydon wrote:I do disagree with the notion we have a suitable plan B should 2 key players for us get injured.
The discussion about Plan B always remind of the typical Brazil/Barcelona commentary...

They're getting beat and the commentators go "they're struggling they have no plan B"

They then equalise and pull ahead and the commentators go "Fanatasic they stuck to their principles and played their way out of trouble"

I don't think Pellergrini has a plan B... He has a way he wants to play and he wants players capable of playing that way. I just don't see him switching things up too much game to game.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by YorksHammer »

Croydon wrote:It seems the counter argument on here to us calling for more additions is that we can only sign 2 good players a season, its a building process, we have no money etc
To be honest, I'd rather only sign two guaranteed starters per summer in order to integrate them properly and slowly build the team up. Doing so probably means we can sign younger players (Fornals and Haller) as opposed to older ones, because you pay a little more but get a lot more time from them.

It's not even about money - we could have the £90m or whatever it was last summer - it's just about spending what we have wisely and investing in the long-term health of the team and squad as opposed to the right now.

You think about players like Haller and Fornals, as well as the likes of Diop, Anderson and Balbuena - we're signing 22-26 year olds rather than 27-30 year olds (for example, in the 17/18 window). That's a small, but major, shift and suggests we've put far more investment into growing/developing the team as a whole than just surviving and achieving around the 12th-17th mark every season.

With that in mind, we should hope that we can improve on last season this season, and continue to grow the team in the next summer window with a couple of similar age signings to go straight into the first team and replace a couple of players that are on their way out - most likely, I think, a Noble and Fabianski replacement.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by jhammers »

"Ex" at the start of the window said Pellegrinis first choice to replace Obiang, should he go, was Isaac Hayden.
Homegrown, good age, wants to come back to London.
Wonder why it hasn't happened.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by funky chicken »

jhammers wrote:"Ex" at the start of the window said Pellegrinis first choice to replace Obiang, should he go, was Isaac Hayden.
Homegrown, good age, wants to come back to London.
Wonder why it hasn't happened.
I believe he said on the last podcast Newcastle wanted too much money.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by jhammers »

Cheers Funky :thup:
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by hammerman11 »

need three more in but I reckon we will see two in a DM and CF

pulgar/hayden if not we rely on noble sanchez and snoddy
Balotelli/Sturridge if not we rely on haller hernandez and antonio

CB - oggy and winston as cover is not great and wont last a season !

you never know the daves might surprise us and pull a rabbit from ann summers !
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Turns to Stone
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Turns to Stone »

hammerman11 wrote:
CB - oggy and winston as cover is not great and wont last a season !
I don't actually agree with this. Ogbonna is a very capable Centre-back and Reid is probably the best 4th choice centre-back we've ever had. Not to mention the fact that we have Rice and Zabaleta who can do it at a push.

The issue for me is that the back four just don't get enough support from the midfield. We have attacking full-backs who like to push on, and whilst Rice is 6'4 and strong, he's not lightning quick. Noble was never quick and is getting slower and Snodgrass and Wilshere make me look pacy.

The team is fine, it's just missing the option of some legs in the middle of the park.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by fjthegrey »

I wouldn't be surprised if Reid were our first choice centreback by the end of the season.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by YorksHammer »

The only reason Reid is '4th choice' is because he's spent 18 months or something near it out injured.

If he comes back from that and is able to regain his past levels, he's up to third choice ahead of Ogbonna immediately. Overhauling Diop and The General is a harder ask, but I'd certainly see him on their level at his best.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Georgee Paris »

Reid produced one of the greatest defensive displays I’ve ever seen... even better than that Norwegian chap at Man U that time.
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Re: The summer transfer window 2019 thread

Post by Macca1973 »

I love Winston and feel we have a very good group of centre backs, wouldn’t be surprised if Reid’s pre-season showing is the reason why it’s gone quiet on the Maripan front and we are seemingly no longer chasing a centre back. We have two or three far more pressing areas of need.
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