West Ham United - The Academy of Football

More transfers announced as Allardyce totally transforms West Ham

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After a busy start to the transfer window, West Ham have continued their signing spree by adding another five players to their senior squad. On the other hand, seven players have left the club. Allardyce kept all these transfers a secret, and presented all four new players in one ago, along with announcing the departure of Mohamed Diamé (Hull City, permanently), Ravel Morrison (Cardiff, on loan), Joe Cole (Aston Villa, permanently), George McCartney (free transfer), Matthew Taylor (Burnley, permanently), Modibo Maïga (FC Metz, on loan) and Alou Diarra (free transfer).

The first of four players to have joined West Ham is the only English player Allardyce has signed: Aaron Cresswell. The 24-year-old left-back has joined for around 4.5 million pounds from Championship side Ipswich, where he enjoyed a very successful season. Cresswell played 41 matches last season, scoring 2 goals, and giving a staggering 14 assists. Despite being only 24 years old, he has already played more than 200 professional matches, making him quite an experienced player for his age. For these reasons, and for his reasonably low price tag, Allardyce has chosen to strengthen his relatively weak left-back position with Cresswell.

Secondly, Morgan Amalfitano has joined The Hammers, after making his debut in English football last season, for West Brom, who loaned him from Olympique Marseille. Amalfitano left a decent first impression, and is most known for his goal against Cardiff, where he lobbed the keeper from about 25 metres out. The French winger only cost the London outfit one million pounds, due to his short contract. Amalfitano has played one match for the French national team, when he was still playing for Marseille. Judging on his time at West Brom, we think that this Frenchman can provide a few goals and assists for his new club this season.

Cheikou Kouyaté is the next drip in the rain of signings West Ham are making. Playing for the same country as Sakho, Senegal, Kouyaté is a defensive midfielder who has joined West Ham for a reported fee of 8 million pounds, from Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht, where he also played as a central defender. Kouyaté is only 24 years old, so he still has some years left to improve his game even more. Physically, we think he can handle the Premier League. In the technical area, he still has things to learn, but we’re sure Kouyaté can make an impact in the Premier League.

The biggest name joining West Ham is undoubtedly Alex Song, who has joined The Hammers from FC Barcelona on a season-long loan. The former Arsenal player wasn’t happy at the amount of playing time he got at Barça, so he requested a move away from the club. When many bookmakers had put their lowest odds on a return to Arsenal, the 27-year-old chose for a club where he had a guaranteed starting line-up place, which is a very sensible choice of the Cameroonian international.

The last signing that has been officially announced, is the signing of Carl Jenkinson. The England international, only one cap, has joined West Ham on a season-long loan, just like Song. Right-back Jenkinson has been in Arsenal’s senior squad for three seasons now, but hasn’t forced a breakthrough yet. With this signing, West Ham will start the season with two new wingbacks, who both have the potential to become good players. Jenkinson was very happy with his temporary move to Allardyce’s side: “I’m very happy with this loan move, as I believe that I can grow as a player here, and return to Arsenal as a threat to the first-team.”

Season Preview: West Ham United

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General Facts:
West Ham finished 13th last season, which is a pretty good performance, considering their squad. Despite the 13th place, fans wanted their manager, Sam Allardyce,to leave the club, due to his boring style of football. The board held faith, and Big Sam has taken rigorous measures: a host of new players have joined the club, and only a few, unneeded players have departed. So, all in all, their team is a lot stronger than last year, with players like Mauro Zárate, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho coming into the team. Although the fans screamed for attackers, and Allardyce gave them that, he also did something about the sometimes leaky defence of last season: Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Cresswell have strengthened the defence, while Alex Song and Cheikhou Kouyaté have come in to bolster the club’s midfield.

Potential Signings:
Signing many players has advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. For example, look at Tottenham Hotspur, who basically bought an entire squad in the summer of 2013. The result was a team that wasn’t very cohesive, also down to that almost all signings were foreign (this is also the case at West Ham). The result was a disappointing 6th place in the Premier League for Sherwood’s team. Ironically enough, two homegrown players (Nabil Bentaleb and Harry Kane) who were brought into the squad by Sherwood eventually made the difference for the Spurs, with top drawer performances.

Our Prediction:
Despite signing from so many countries, and thus increasing the chance of a really bad start, West Ham now have a squad that can easily stay up this season, and even go on to finish in the top-10. Their squad is well balanced, with good players all round, not only in one part of the team. Although key players like Andy Carroll and Matt Jarvis are injured at the moment, West Ham have got enough good players in their squad to replace those who are injured.

Player Highlight: Mauro Zárate:
One of the many signings is former Birmingham City, Inter Milan and Lazio player Mauro Zárate. This Argentinian attacking midfielder is most known for his skilful, high-paced dribbles and his clinical finishing. Allardyce has indicated that he’ll employ a 4-2-3-1 formation, and it seems logical that Zárate will play just behind the striker, utilising his pace to take the ball from the midfield to the front man. We expect that Zárate will surprise many with his pace and skills, and he’ll be a threat to all defenders playing against him.

Summary:
Our Prediction: 11th
Last Season’s Finish: 13th
Key Player: Mauro Zárate
Strongest Line-Up: Adrián – Jenkinson, Reid, Tomkins, Cresswell – Song, Noble – Downing, Zárate, Jarvis – Valencia

West Ham hit by Injury Plague, Allardyce responds by signing Matthews

One of West Ham’s many injured players: Matt Jarvis

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Allardyce’s West Ham United have been plagued by injuries lately, resulting in a total of seven long-term injuries. All of the players injured are important players in Allardyce’s team, and he’ll now have to put a lot of second-choice players in the starting line-up for the coming weeks. But that should be no real problem, as The Hammers have good depth in their squad, with many back-up players who are almost as good as the first-team players in their position.

The real problems are at the right-back position, where two right-backs are injured: Guy Demel(out for about two months with a pulled hamstring) and Carl Jenkinson (out for about six weeks with a pulled hamstring). Although West Ham have no other right-backs, players like Joey O’Brien can easily play on the right side of defence. James Collins is also an option, but he’s also out injured with a slipped disc. He is expected to be out for three months. We’re still not even half-way down the injury list.

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West Ham have completed the signing of Adam Matthews

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Due to these defensive problems, Allardyce has chosen to sign Celtic right-back Adam Matthews. The 22-year-old has joined The Hammers for a combined fee of 2.7 million Pounds after playing three seasons for the Scottish champions. Before joining Celtic, Welshman Matthews played at Cardiff, where he impressed Celtic’s scouts. Matthews is only the club’s second British signing of this transfer window. The young right-back was happy with his move: “I’m happy to be playing in the strongest league of the world, and I think I can improve my game even more here at West Ham. I’m very excited, and I can’t wait to play my first game!”

In the midfield, another three players are injured, and all are key players when not injured. The most important player is vice-captain Mark Noble, who is out with a back strain. The 27-year-old central midfielder is expected to be out for about a month. Another important midfielder who is out injured is winger Matt Jarvis, who has played 62 matches in his two years at Boleyn Ground, after he joined the club from Wolverhampton. The last midfielder out injured is playmaker Ravel Morrison. One of West Ham’s biggest talents, only 21 years old, is out with a twisted knee for approximately three weeks.

Andy Carroll is the last long-term injury West Ham have. The English striker is out injured with torn ankle ligaments. The recovery will be a timely one, as he’s expected to be out for around four months. Carroll joined West Ham back in 2012, and has since then been plagued by injuries, small ones and big ones.

All of these injuries have worried the West Ham fans, who’ve been searching for an answer to the question “where are all these injuries coming from?” Some think it’s down to coincidence, while some think it has something to do with the training methods of Sam Allardyce. But one thing is for sure, Allardyce has some puzzling to do for the upcoming matches.