The Summer Transfer Thread 2022.

[Aztec Hammer]

Reading today’s posts, I can’t believe some of the opinions on certain players. Has anyone seen Josh Brownhill or Kean Lewis-Potter play. Brownhill is probably the most underrated player in the league. While not as good as Rice, people seem to view hims the same way most non west people looked at Rice until the last 15 months. He is a much better player than a lot of the other midfielders posters have suggested. I don’t think there is much between Brownhill and Phillips. I think Brownhill is better than any of Everton’s stable of much more expensive midfielders. He’s better than any of Man U’s central midfielders, and in my opinion better than any of Tottenham’s, Leicester’s and even Arsenal’s central midfielder. Set pieces aside (and he’s pretty good at those) he’s better than Ward-Prowse. I would rather have Brownhill than Tielemans.

You surely must be related to him! That’s wild.

[S-H]

If hammerman11 is list man.

Peaches is paragraph man.

[BigFatSam]

Speaking in an interview with West Ham’s official website, Areola said he is ‘loving life in east London with the Hammers’.

And he has told West Ham fans ‘the story is not finished’.

“When you are a football and you play, you’re just enjoying every moment,” Areola told whufc.com.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment since I arrived here when I signed and when I took the first pictures with my new jersey and my new number, so I enjoyed every moment with everyone here.

“The story is not finished, so hopefully we’ll see!”


Just thought i’d quote that to save people scrolling through the endless drivel which precedes that

I love how the first bit of actual real solid transfer news has been pretty much ignored here Pretty much confirms he’s staying. Which also pretty much confirms he’ll be our number 1 next year.

[S-H]

You surely must be related to him! That’s wild.

He's the same with every player we are linked with, to be fair.

Edit: I've just actually read it.. wow!!

[D C]

Brownhill wasn’t even consistently starting for that abysmal Burnley side at points in this season or am I getting mixed up?

[S-H]

Brownhill wasn’t even consistently starting for that abysmal Burnley side at points in this season or am I getting mixed up?

He's crap.

[bubbles1966]

It’s interesting to read one Burnley forum I saw the other day re Brownhill. Certainly not universally rated by those that watch him.

I watched him on Saturday - tidy-ish on the ball but pretty ineffective, peripheral and largely unimpressive. If he's played against us, it's difficult to imagine any other description because they've shown very little against us unless they were Nick Pope.

[1895Hammer]

From what I read, pace may be a problem. We'd definitely be sitting deeper like we do with Dawson which doesn't feel me with massive amounts of joy.

We need more pace! Ideally every recruit this summer is notably faster than whoever they replace, with the exception of Fredericks.

[Bond Holder 59]

If hammerman11 is list man.

Peaches is paragraph man.

But who’s the ‘gif’ man ?

[HammerPDC]

I'm not sure we've been linked to a player that suits us less than JWP

He's a good player that's fairly overrated, not physically dominant enough to play the Rice or Soucek role, and not creative enough to play the Lanzini role. He does have a lot of the same characteristics as Nobes and whilst his set pieces are unbelievable you can't force a square peg into a round hole just for set pieces

Its a pass from me, but a good player nonetheless

[El brooko79]

I'm not sure we've been linked to a player that suits us less than JWP

He's a good player that's fairly overrated, not physically dominant enough to play the Rice or Soucek role, and not creative enough to play the Lanzini role. He does have a lot of the same characteristics as Nobes and whilst his set pieces are unbelievable you can't force a square peg into a round hole just for set pieces

Its a pass from me, but a good player nonetheless

As far as midfield powerhouses, Bissouma is probably the most known and established player in consideration.

But it might be we want to evolve in to more passing style.
Meaning we still have one of Rice/Soucek (at times both) but with a more of a ball player.
This is why Phillips suits, still physical and athletic but a player.
The drop in physicality and height we see when using Lanzini centrally is too much. KP seems a good compromise.
I'm not sure JWP is the answer. Good player but Saints get overrun at times and I'm more interested I'm open play than set piece improvement.

[hammer1975]

I watched him on Saturday - tidy-ish on the ball but pretty ineffective, peripheral and largely unimpressive. If he's played against us, it's difficult to imagine any other description because they've shown very little against us unless they were Nick Pope.

Can’t say I’ve ever noticed him when playing against us or when watching Burnley. I get the attraction of ‘competent’ back up but tenacious, hard working centre mids who are ‘ok’ on the ball seem ten-a-penny in the championship.

Saying that, I trust Moyes - he’s the first in a long line of managers who seemed to actually address our soft centre of midfield (despite fans being aware of it for years).

I’m also not a fan of us spunking a big portion of our budget on Philips. £25m-£30m, yeah I get the attraction. £50m? Not a chance he’s worth that to us imo (unless Declan goes).

[SammyLeeWasOffside]

Sterling, 27, expects to join one of Europe's elite clubs if he leaves the Etihad in the summer, despite strong interest from Arsenal and Tottenham

This did make me chuckle about the super League wannabees

[HammerPDC]

As far as midfield powerhouses, Bissouma is probably the most known and established player in consideration.

But it might be we want to evolve in to more passing style.
Meaning we still have one of Rice/Soucek (at times both) but with a more of a ball player.
This is why Phillips suits, still physical and athletic but a player.
The drop in physicality and height we see when using Lanzini centrally is too much. KP seems a good compromise.
I'm not sure JWP is the answer. Good player but Saints get overrun at times and I'm more interested I'm open play than set piece improvement.

100% go along with this EB, Phillips and Bissouma would be far more suited to us and both imo are just all round better players

Set pieces are important for us but its not as though we're struggling anyway in that area and as you point out give me a better player in open play 100 times out of 100

[hammer1975]

Fornals and Bowen have pretty good set piece delivery too - it’s not all about Cresswell imo (although appreciate he’s very, very good).

[fjthegrey]

Bowen's corners are just about as good as they could be.

I've not seen better in the league this season from any other player.

[Aceface]

Bowen's corners are just about as good as they could be.

I've not seen better in the league this season from any other player.

They are, and Fornals' – in keeping with most areas of his play – can be inconsistent but are excellent when he gets it right.

Cresswell has 3 assists this season despite hogging the lion's share of dead ball situations in a team like ours full of strong headerererers. Not sure we'll miss him from the attacking side let alone the defensive side when he's eventually replaced as an automatic starter in 2026.

[Wilko1304]

The way Ward-Prowse gets brushed aside as a footballer because of his skill with set pieces is weird.

He wouldn't be a professional playing in the Prem if all he was was a set-piece merchant. The guy is the absolute perfect fit for us, stylistically, in everything but pace.

I don't see Phillips as a great fit. Rice is a world class, elite holding midfielder. Play him there. Phillips is a very good player, we wouldn't get worse, but we would have to change a lot in our team to accommodate him. Probably have to drop Fornals and replace Cresswell with a wing-back-like left back. If we add Aguerd and Phillips, we'd defend in a low block and play out for the front three to counter, and that would be about it.

Ward-Prowse is a better defender than Lanzini, finds better service in attack than Lanzini, so is an effective option in our current setup, whilst being good enough to play as a pure 10 or one of the two deeper midfield roles.

He lacks pace, but he makes up for it with passing and hard work. Could see him getting 7-10 goals for us, and a raft of assists.

[El brooko79]

With regards to a striker.
It seems to me that Moyes doesn't like rotating and expects players to be able to perform twice a week.
No problem with that.

Is there a danger that if we don't get a striker that is fundamentally better than Antonio (and get a back up) that he may continue to over use Antonio. We are getting to a point were every game counts and Moyes may think- we need Antonio here, I'm sure he can manage another game.
I see that happening with Vlasic/Fornals already this season.

I'd put the likes of Watkins, Nketiah in that not necessarily better than (good) Antonio category.

[bubbles1966]

With regards to a striker.
It seems to me that Moyes doesn't like rotating and expects players to be able to perform twice a week.

Not sure how you're reached that conclusion.

He was merrily rotating the team during the autumn.

A combination of injuries and lack of faith in the stand-ins seemed to kick in following Kidderminster in particular.

He's clearly lost faith in certain players who need to go.

As the stakes are raised he needs to look at his options and trust them to deliver. He doesn't. Understandably so, TBH.