The Summer Transfer Thread 2022.

[steveyrockstar]

What's Baz Cooper sayin'?

[stammer]

What's Baz Cooper sayin'?

My name is really Barry but someone told me Baz sounded cooler ?

[StevePottsGoalsReel]

If that's his best, I'm not impressed. Maybe my memories of how good he used to be have warped with time.

For me, he's almost the most difficult player to properly rate in the squad.

His technique and passing is so good that sometimes he can seem anonymous, but then it's almost impossible to measure what we gain against picking a player who loses the ball or gives it away more often.

He scores absolutely spectacular goals, but rarely seems to score or assist apart from those.

In the Payet season, he looked head and shoulders above everyone else bar Payet, and still with room for further improvement. His injury obviously set him back significantly, in confidence as well as form, but was he also elevated by Payet in a way that would never have been replicated even without an injury?

And even if he is now back to his best(ish), does he even suit our current system? He's not creative enough (imho) or scoring enough goals to be the 10 in a 4-2-3-1, is rarely going to be part of the 2 or start wide, and if he drops in deeper with Rice and Soucek we do keep the ball better but always lose a cutting edge missing one of the 3.

I'm confident Moyes has a much better understanding of Manu and his role than I do, but he feels like a great player to have available, yet one who is rarely going to feature in a perfect first XI even before we bring in some new recruits.

[westlondonhammer]

I think Hlozek would be a huge risk better than 50% chance he doesn’t work out.

Promising youngsters from weak leagues dont often cut it in the prem.

Lewis potter or Brenna Jonhnson better bets

Indeed...i wouldn’t be surprised if our new owner 'loans' him to us. Hlozek will be itching for a move soon so it makes sense to showcase him on the Premiership stage with us rather than in Germany with Leipzig by flogging him at a lower rate than his ceiling may be.

Less than 20 million now doubles or triples if he can do it in the Premiership.

[Burnley Hammer]

I agree that Hlozek would be worth a punt if he's available to loan through our new part-owners links. He clearly has a lot of potential and is able to play up front or out wide.

[westlondonhammer]

I agree that Hlozek would be worth a punt if he's available to loan through our new part-owners links. He clearly has a lot of potential and is able to play up front or out wide.

Even at 17 million...given the owner...would likely be on some kind of flexible or favourable terms

[The Old Man of Storr]

Hammers News with their latest article...

"Conor Gallagher would be perfect as he would release Soucek to get forward more "

They don't half talk some rubbish!

I quite enjoy listening to Gonzo , he's a natural when it comes to chatting about all things West Ham and I've posted on his Youtube Channel a couple of times .

If we're talking about signing Kalvin Phillips then why not Connor Gallagher ' - he's like the proverbial terrier and scores the occasional goal - if Rice isn't going to Chelsea they could worse than sticking Gallagher in their first team and I imagine that's the plan after the tremendous season he's had at Crystal Palace .....up until Rice becomes available .

Or was the ' releasing Soucek to get forward more ' you were commenting on ?

If we bought Phillips would that mean the end for Soucek do you think ?

That second goal against Manchester City was straight out of the old Fellaini type tactic up at Everton , it's not great on the eye but it's effective and should be part of our arsenal while Soucek remains a West Ham player .

[NWhammer]

I’m not convinced Ogbonna will come back to be honest, and if he did it wouldn’t be anywhere near what he was before his injury.

I saw a post on here and it had Aguerd LCB, Wijndal LB and Bassey who can play both positions.

I’ve seen almost next to nothing of them but if they’re as good as they’re reported to be, they’d sort that area of the pitch for years to come given their ages.

[-DL-]

One thing we do not tolerate on this forum are pile-ons, and the last few pages have been difficult reading.

As I've also mentioned before, so long as a post is clear and understood, spelling and grammar do not matter - the only think we don't allow on here is lazy, text speak.

Keep to the subject matter, play the post, and not the poster.

[BusterKnutt]

If we bought Phillips would that mean the end for Soucek do you think ?

That second goal against Manchester City was straight out of the old Fellaini type tactic up at Everton , it's not great on the eye but it's effective and should be part of our arsenal while Soucek remains a West Ham player .

Absolutely not. I think the plan - if we are getting Phillips - will be to move Soucek into the 10 position and try to utilise his goalscoring abilities exactly as Moyes did with Fellaini.
When it was said that we were looking at a striker of a type you wouldn't expect (or words to that effect) it did make me wonder if we would have two wingers and a striker who are the more diminutive/agile/quick free flowing type players rather than an Antonio up front, leaving Soucek to do the hold up/aerial work with the others buzzing around him.

[westlondonhammer]

TOMoS

For me we shouldnt be worrying about signing 1 player potentially meaning the end of another

If we had 4 top class midfielders like Phillips, Rice, Soucek and Gallagher we could:
Ensure players are not playing all 3 games in the space of 7 days...players wouldn't have to play within themselves because they know the busy schedule coming because they know a rest is possible
We can rotate depending on tactics (sit and counter, ball dominance, getting at them, being defensively solid etc)...different combinations would be utilized based on the players strength
Enable us to go with a 3 of the 4 for certain games if tactics dictated
Enable us to actually substitute midfielders, something we rarely do...sometimes just to change the dynamics of thr game

We're competing at a different level now and need to be prepared for that. We're currently not in the middle of the park but could be

[Burnley Hammer]

Or was the ' releasing Soucek to get forward more ' you were commenting on ?

Yep - the implication seemed to be that Gallagher would stay back to free Soucek up to get forward more. If Gallagher came, he'd be far better in that attacking half than Soucek. Would be crazy to just have him sitting back

If we bought Phillips would that mean the end for Soucek do you think ?

1. I can't see us buying Phillips to sit on the bench
2. In our usual 4-2-3-1 formation, this would almost certainly see him replace Soucek in the defensive 2.
3. If we played 4-3-3, a midfield three of Rice, Soucek, and Phillips would be too defensively minded and not much in the way of creativity between them. It's all well and good having three great attacking players - but somebody has to supply them!
4. Soucek is not a central attacking midfielder. He makes plenty of runs into the box from the position he currently plays. He's still having plenty of chances - he's just not quite had the same luck this year. An attacking midfielder needs to do a lot more than just make runs into the box. He would need to be creative, an adept passer, and decent at running with the ball. Soucek isn't that person. He played defensive midfield for his old club, and for his national team, and has always managed to score goals from that position.

[Burnley Hammer]

Personally I'd rather spend the money on a Gallagher type - a proper box to box player that contributes to both the defence and the attack. I think we could pick up a 'sit back and shield the defence' type of player for a better price.

[Burnley Hammer]

And yes - obviously they'd all play games as we'd need to rotate. Regardless of that though - a manager will always have a preferred first 11 in his mind

[NWhammer]

I’m not sure I’d take Gallagher based on I don’t think he’s much different to Fornals, and certainly not 50m or so better.

Phillips would be be signing for me. He’d improve the midfield so much and give us the option of either…

Phillips, Rice, Soucek or Phillips, Rice, Fornals

Two great options in my opinion.

[D C]

Tuchel said he wanted Gallagher and Broja in pre-season with them before making a decision on them. It sounded like they would only be loaned out again if anything and obviously neither would be done early

[I am Legend]

Anyone who thinks Lanzini should be out needs to get an old sock, fill it with wet tea bags, then slap themselves with it.

He's one of the best footballers at the club, loyal to the club, finally getting back to his best after a career changing injury. He looked great once he nailed down that role next to Rice. Those two passing together improved us so much.

[D C]

Anyone who thinks Lanzini should be out needs to get an old sock, fill it with wet tea bags, then slap themselves with it.

He's one of the best footballers at the club, loyal to the club, finally getting back to his best after a career changing injury. He looked great once he nailed down that role next to Rice. Those two passing together improved us so much.

Agree that he shouldn’t be leaving but I think he will on a free after this season. River probably look a very good proposition if he’s made enough money

[Lovejoy]

I’m not sure I’d take Gallagher based on I don’t think he’s much different to Fornals, and certainly not 50m or so better.

Phillips would be be signing for me. He’d improve the midfield so much and give us the option of either…

Phillips, Rice, Soucek or Phillips, Rice, Fornals

Two great options in my opinion.

I think Someone like Phillips is needed more than Gallagher I agree, Gallagher you wouldn’t sniff at if he turned up here though. I think his a better player than Fornals.

[Burnley Hammer]

Anyone who thinks Lanzini should be out needs to get an old sock, fill it with wet tea bags, then slap themselves with it.

He's one of the best footballers at the club, loyal to the club, finally getting back to his best after a career changing injury. He looked great once he nailed down that role next to Rice. Those two passing together improved us so much.

I could reply to that but unfortunately I'm a little tied up at the moment slapping myself with an old sock filled with wet tea bags.