Daily WHUFC News - 6th September 2014

Mediawatch - 5 September
WHUFc.com
Our daily look at West Ham United in the written and digital media
05.09.2014

There is only one place to start with today's Mediawatch and that is the
internet sensation of Diafra Sakho's goal for a West Ham United XI against
their Ipswich Town counterparts. More than 150,000 people have viewed
Sakho's goal - West Ham's fourth in a 5-1 victory at the Boleyn Ground - but
the big attraction is the build-up from Alex Song and Ravel Morrison, rather
than the Senegal striker's close-range finish. The YouTube video has been
picked by the national and international media, including MailOnline, the
Daily Mirror, the Evening Standard.and Spanish newspaper Marca.

Elsewhere, the Greater London Authority have asked to hear from fans living
close to football grounds as part of their investigation into football
stadia. An article on the GLA's own website concludes with a mention of
their successful visit to the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday, where the
Vice-Chairman detailed the Club's outstanding community work.

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Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Diego Poyet blogs about playing with Alex Song, Fanimo's four goals and the
upcoming match against Hull
05.09.2014

Hello everyone,

This is my first column as a West Ham United player. The staff, players and
fans have all helped me to settle in and I have really enjoyed my time at
the club so far. Of course, it is only early into the season, yet I have
already seen many reasons to be excited about it.

One of these positives is the signing of Alex Song from Barcelona. He is a
top player. I remember watching him play in the Premier League at Arsenal. I
have also seen bits of him at Barcelona.

I am learning all the time from watching him in training. It is no accident
that he has played with some of the best players in the world. He has earned
the right. So I want to learn as much as I can, and improve as much as
possible.

On Thursday, I captained the team in a friendly against Ipswich at the
Boleyn Ground. All the lads played very well as we won 5-1. The main thing
was just about getting minutes on the pitch, not the result. It was also
important to give some of the younger boys an opportunity to play. It was a
good performance all round, yet we probably could have scored a couple more.
Overall I was very pleased.

I really enjoyed played alongside Alex in midfield. Judging by the
incredible build-up play for Diafra Sakho's goal, I'm sure Ravel and all the
other players would agree. I felt the three of us did well together in
midfield.

Another player who impressed me was Matthias Fanimo who scored four of our
five goals. He scored so many so I wasn't sure how many he got by the end!
Matty is a talented winger who has come through the youth ranks here. Four
goals in one game, you can't take that away from him. I think he deserves
all the credit he gets for his performance.

As for my personal performance I felt good. When I played against Sheffield
United I thought I would struggle, especially when the match went to extra
time. But I think I did OK. That game was about ten days ago now and I'm
really feeling the benefit. I feel good and I can tell how much I've got
from them.

So far the first team results haven't being going our way but I don't think
we are far away from turning the results around. I think we just need to
keep going. We've got a lot of new players coming in and several people
coming back from injury as well. We've got a really good squad for this
year. If we are all fit, I think we could do really well this season.

Our first game back after the international break is away to Hull City. It's
a massive game and we know it will be a tough match. However, if we keep
working hard and play to our capabilities I think we will come away with a
result.

Have a good weekend!
Diego

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Four-goal Fanimo feeling good
WHUFC.com
West Ham United winger Matthias Fanimo scored four goals in 5-1 victory over
an Ipswich Town XI
05.09.2014

West Ham United winger Matthias Fanimo scored four out of the five goals as
an experimental Hammers XI beat Ipswich Town XI 5-1 at the Boleyn Ground.
The friendly gave new signings such as Alex Song, Diafra Sakho and Diego
Poyet minutes on the pitch as well as an opportunity to field Academy
prospects such as Amos Nasha, Moses Makasi and Jaanai Gordon. Fanimo scored
his first of the afternoon by firing in a fierce drive from the edge of box.
His second came as he tucked away the rebound following Nathan Mavila's
saved penalty. The winger completed his hat-trick just before the interval
following a wonderful through-ball from Song. West Ham's fourth came from a
moment of genius. Song and Ravel Morrison combined with a series of majestic
one touch tricks and flicks before leaving Sakho clear to finish off a truly
stunning move. The goal has become an internet sensation and you can watch
it here. The winger completed an impressive performance by netting his
fourth goal after running onto an incisive pass from Morrison. Speaking
after the game, Fanimo said: "It's always nice to score goals, but four in
one game is definitely an achievement."

When asked to choose his favourite goal from four well taken chances, he
explained: "The first one, it was a good strike."

Talking about what it was like playing with West Ham's new signings, Fanimo
enthused: "It was really good. They are experienced players, Song has played
with some of the best players in the world, and you can see that. It was
good to play off him today."

Fanimo had an injury-hit season last year, scoring one goal in 17
appearances for the U21s. This year, he is keen to make up for lost time:
"If I get ten goals this season that is a bonus, double figures would be
nice."

Having played in the first two league matches of the season, Fanimo missed
the 1-1 draw with Manchester City due to a slight niggle. However, he is fit
and ready for the next league game against Liverpool next Friday at the
Boleyn Ground.

"We haven't got off to the best start, but it would be very good to get a
win against Liverpool," he confirmed.

Development Squad coach Nick Haycock commented on Fanimo's progression
through the Academy in his own post-match interview: "I've worked with
Matthias for many years now, up from Under-14 level. He has had a couple of
bad injuries over the last few seasons, which has meant he has missed about
18 months of football."

"He has come back, played 90 minutes and had a few good training sessions
this week. We have worked on his movement, to get him into the box and score
more goals. If the reward is goals like that, that is fantastic for him."

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From the Academy
WHUFC.com
Academy Manager Terry Westley pens his exclusive column for the Official
Website
04.09.2014

Hello everyone,

They say a week is a long time in football, and I certainly could not
disagree with that. We are only a few games into the season and, as football
fans know only too well, a lot has already happened. Despite only picking up
one point out of three games so far, our Under-21s have been putting in good
performances. Development Squad coach Nick Haycock said he believes his team
deserve seven points for their efforts, and I completely agree. We could
easily have won at Manchester City in a game that ended 1-1 on Sunday. I was
at the City game and, with the funding they have got, the quality of players
and the value of the side they put out, it was an incredible performance.
Kieran Sadlier put us in front, but they equalised with only two minutes to
go.

They have gone out and recruited players from all over the place. If you
look, we had a 15-year-old in Reece Oxford playing. We are delighted with
the performance we put in. Their Development coach Patrick Vieira was
talking about how impressed he was with the commitment to the task our boys
put in. That's a big compliment to the work our staff and our players put
in.

Sometimes it's not about the result, you turn a blind eye to that and
concentrate on the development of the players. All we are trying to do is to
get the best performances out of our players. My role is to stretch them as
far as I dare. For Reece Burke and Oxford playing at the back, it was a
great experience for them, they were tested to the maximum and they will
learn from that. In that respect they will be better prepared for first
team.
The same is true for our U18 coach Steve Potts, whose team drew 3-3 at home
to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and remain unbeaten.

Steve is clearly a legend at the club, with the amount of games he played.
He has also got two boys in the system, which is not easy for himself, or
the two boys. Steve handles that responsibility with great respect. He never
gives anyone a favour, he is a very honest, hardworking coach. He never uses
the fact that he has played over 500 times for the team as a way to get in.
He is early in to training, and he is late to leave. He is now working
towards his UEFA A license. To me he looks like a coach whose individual
plan can go a long way, just like his career here.

Here at the Academy we have an all-round philosophy which is to promote our
most talented youth players into more senior age categories. As a result of
this, sometimes we are going to lose games because we are going to play
younger players in the team. As far as I am concerned, as long as we are
sticking to this plan, we are doing the right thing and are going in the
right direction. We could fill our squads with experienced players and we
would win a lot of games, but we might not get anyone through the system.

Nick was very upset we did not win on Sunday against Manchester City. First,
he is a City boy, as he is from that area and worked for the club
previously. We were leading until two minutes to go, you could see the
emotion in his face. But we have to focus on the positives. The fact we came
away having 'only' drawn to City shows how ambitious we are. Those are they
high standards we expect of ourselves. A further positive is that, with
Reece Oxford, we had the best player on the pitch.

Another positive is players like Jordan Brown who we've recruited, scored
two goals the other weekend for the U18s and he looked dangerous. Yes, you
want to win, but we also want to promote young players into older age
categories. Steve understands that, that's what we want to do.
It cannot be a generic system. We cannot do the same training sessions for
every player we've got. Reece Oxford is on a very different programme to
what Elliot Lee needs for example. There are at different levels in their
careers. We need to be sure we're giving individual work depending on their
needs so that when there are 18 they have the toolkit to play in the Premier
League.

We have a number of players away on international duty this week and next
and it is a learning curve for all of them. You want them to learn from all
the other talented players they are around. It's an opportunity to work with
different coaches and tactics, maybe play in a different position. At the
same time it is important they don't get carried away with international
calls because there are plenty of boys of play for England U16s and U17s who
don't have careers. They have to understand that what they do for us is the
bread and butter in terms of their careers.

We've got Josh Cullen going away with the England U19s, Kieran Sadlier going
away with Republic of Ireland U21s, so there's a hefty group of players who
are getting a taste. Reece Burke was on stand-by for the England U19s. I
watched the England game last night and watched Raheem Sterling, Jordan
Henderson and Fabian Delph, and we have to be in that mould. We have to
create players of that ilk who can go into our team and push on into the
very highest level.
This weekend, those not on international duty will have a challenge of their
own as the Premier League have invited two foreign teams - Benfica and Real
Madrid - alongside Spurs and us, to a four-team tournament at Tottenham.

We accepted that invitation, the tournament is this Friday and Saturday. On
Saturday at Little Heath we're hosting a tournament for the Under-16s - West
Ham, Fulham, Spurs and Norwich. The winners of that will go through to an
international tournament.

All in all, it's been another interesting and exciting week at the Academy,
and the next seven days promise to be no different!
Terry Westley

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Oatley attack unfair, says Ladies coach
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th September 2014
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United came under attack yesterday from certain sections of the
press after it was revealed that West Ham Ladies teams have to provide their
own funding.

It's no secret that the Ladies teams have always operated independently of
West Ham United FC, with the vast majority of funding coming from the
players or staff - a situation highlighted when the club set up a donations
page to fund their continued existence earlier this week.

However their plight was brought to a wider audience yesterday when Match of
the Day commentator Jacqui Oatley tweeted United co-chairman David Gold to
enquire why the teams failed to receive financial support from the club..

It was an argument taken up by the Guardian, though the piece strangely
disappeared from their website shortly after being published. However Dave
Maslen, who has worked with several of the Ladies' junior teams in recent
years believes the attack on Gold and the club was both unwarranted and
unfair.

"West Ham United ladies recently set up a Gofundme page in order to help
raise money for the women's and junior girls teams," he told KUMB. "With
ever increasing costs, the club are finding it more and more difficult to
keep the club running to the high standards it has achieved over the last
few years

"We have always been and still are very grateful to the main club for the
help and support they give the first team supplying kit and training
facilities but as we all know, nothing in this world is for free.

"With an average rise of 30 per cent in pitch fees alone for this season
added to the cost of junior training kits, the hire of training facilities
(for the junior teams), transport costs (with the first team and development
squad playing all over country) plus the costs of supplying physios and
coaching staff for the first team, it doesn't take much working out to see
this runs into thousands of pounds a year.

"The club [WHUFC Ladies] has run itself, financially, since its birth in
1991. Not wanting to burden the main club with their own financial problems,
it was decided that the Ladies needed to raise money in different ways.

"Usually, any extra money needed would be raised through the junior section
of the club through club discos, race nights and bucket collections which
have taken place at the men's first team home games.

"We are very grateful to the main club for allowing the girls to do this.
But, unfortunately this isn't enough now for the club to meet its financial
needs as with a lot of other grass roots football teams, we are having to
look into other ways of raising money for the club."

Whilst the Ladies' fundraising via Gofundme has enjoyed to a healthy start,
with more than £1,000 of the £10,000 sought already banked within 36 hours
of the project starting thanks to generous donations, Maslen urged more
Hammers fans to back the Ladies teams.

"The club has around 12 fully-qualified coaches and six managers, all of
whom are unpaid," he said. "Everyone that works at the club volunteers,
putting in the hours purely for their love of this great football club. So
any money raised will go straight into helping to keep the first team and
junior girls teams running.

"The club is recognised as being one of the most popular and successful in
the area with hundreds of girls attending trials each season all eager to
wear the famous claret and blue shirt.

"If you feel you can help the club raise money in any way please visit the
West Ham ladies at www.gofundme.com/dyluxc or contact us direct at either
westhamladiesjuniors@hotmail.co.uk or billdotrobinson@yahoo.co.uk.

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Diame: I should have left a long time ago
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th September 2014
By: Staff Writer

So said the former West Ham United midfielder, who joined fellow Premier
League outfit Hull City on transfer deadline day. He spent two years at West
Ham having joined the club on a free transfer from Wigan in the summer of
2012. But having barely completed a £3.5million move to Humberside on Monday
- after exercising a 'minimum' fee release clause in his contract - Diame
has gone on the offensive, slamming former manager Sam Allardyce. "At West
Ham I was shunted around all the different positions," he moaned. "I
remember one time I had to play as a striker. At least with Hull I will be
certain of playing in my favoured role. "I should have left West Ham a long
time ago, as with them I wasn't permitted to play in central midfield. You
lose your bearings when you get shunted around all the different positions.
"I wasn't able to get the biggest clubs interested in me, as when they came
to watch me I'd been put in a position that was not mine."

Diame spent much of his time at West Ham talking about the 'top six' move he
hoped to pull off, rather than just getting on with the job he'd been paid -
handsomely - to do. Despite rarely producing the kind of form that might
have rendered such a move possible, it's clearly a dream he continues to
harbour - even if, having left east London, he'll have to find someone else
to blame should his dream not be fulfilled. West Ham face Diame's new club
in the first match following the international break on Monday, 15
September.

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James Tomkins welcomes new West Ham signings
Last Updated: 05/09/14 2:37pm
SSN

West Ham defender James Tomkins has insisted he is relishing working with
new signings Alex Song and Morgan Amalfitano. Song and Amalfitano made it
nine new arrivals at Upton Park this summer, with Sam Allardyce entrusted
with bringing a more attacking brand of football to east London. Former
Arsenal midfielder Song arrives on loan from Barcelona, hoping to resurrect
his career after a disappointing few years with the Catalan giants, while
Amalfitano returns to the Premier League after impressing whilst on loan at
West Brom last season. "Alex Song is a massive player who comes with great
experience in the Premier League," Tomkins told West Ham's official website.
"He has gone to Barcelona and trained with the best, so he is only going to
help us, I should imagine. We're all really looking forward to playing
alongside him. "We played against Morgan last season at West Brom and he
caused us a few problems and actually set up their goal as well, so he'll be
an important player for us. "It shows how much we're trying to strengthen
our squad at the minute. "I'm looking forward to working with the signings
we've brought in and seeing how they will add to the squad."

Tomkins also sent his best wishes to Mohamed Diame, who left the Hammers for
Hull City in the transfer window. "Mo did really well for us here and the
fans really liked him, but he obviously wanted to move on," Tomkins added.
"Everyone wishes him all the best."

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Mohamed Diame says West Ham 'shunted him around'
Last Updated: 05/09/14 10:33am
SSN

Hull City new boy Mohamed Diame says he was 'shunted around' various
positions at West Ham United and wishes he had left the club a long time
ago.
Diame made the move to the KC Stadium on Monday following two years with the
Hammers, and is looking forward to playing in his favoured central midfield
role. The 27-year-old believes he was misused at West Ham and as a result
was not able to show his best form. Diame had been keen to attract the
attention of top clubs and admits he had hoped to move on from the Hammers
much earlier. "At West Ham I was shunted around all the different
positions," he said, quoted by the Daily Star. "I remember one time I had to
play as a striker. "That was not good for my career. I wanted to play for a
club that is high in the Premier League table. "At least with Hull I will be
certain of playing in my favoured role. "I should have left West Ham a long
time ago, as with them I wasn't permitted to play in central midfield. "I
wasn't able to get the biggest clubs interested in me, as when they came to
watch me I'd been put in a position that was not mine. "You lose your
bearings when you get shunted around all the different positions."

Hull face West Ham in their first match after the international break on
Monday, 15th September

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HAVE WEST HAM LADIES BEEN LEFT OUT IN THE COLD?
By Iron Liddy 5 Sep 2014 at 16:19
West Ham Till I Die

Last night I attended my first West Ham United Ladies football match as they
took on Tottenham Hotspur Ladies underneath the floodlights of Mill Field in
Aveley. It also happened to be their first home game with Julian Dicks in
charge since he took over as First Team Manager 12 weeks ago.


When we arrived the Ladies' teams were warming up on the pitch and the WHL
junior squad were also demonstrating some of their skills in the corner of
the field. The first thing that struck me was the buoyancy of the supporting
crowd; music was playing, there were strains of 'Bubbles' and shouts of
'Irons!' from all directions and the sense of anticipation and good humour
was tangible. In fact the crowd of 150 – 200 fans were creating more
atmosphere than I often experience in my seat in the West Stand at Upton
Park. I was pleased to see that Tommy Wathen from Tommy Wathen TV and Martin
Green from West Ham TV were there to record the proceedings but I hoped that
it was the growing rise in popularity of women's football that was the focus
rather than a Julian Dicks shaped publicity opportunity for the men's team.

As kick off approached it was very humbling to see Julian Dicks going around
collecting all the warm-up tops, cones and practise balls himself. He even
took 5 minutes out to play a gentle game of passing with a tiny pitch
invader dressed in a claret shirt; no doubt the next generation to have the
Hammers etched on his heart.

Julian Dicks encouraging grass roots football
As the game got underway the next thing I noticed was the inadequacy of the
facilities. The lines on the pitch were barely visible, making the officials
job a difficult one, and the edge of the pitch is so close to the
surrounding fences that I lost count of the number of times a new ball had
to be introduced. Collecting wayward balls seems to be a full time job for
the assistant coach and it must cost the team a small fortune in lost balls
alone! During the first half I was slightly distracted by the
industriousness of the junior squad; lots of little girls running around in
full kit with collection buckets and raffle tickets, trying to raise the
much needed funds to keep the team afloat.

By half time we were 0-2 down with Spurs Ladies looking the stronger and
more organised team. We did show glimpses of potential however, with some
very skilful touches, particularly from captain and midfielder Stacey Little
and forward Kelley Blanchflower. Our keeper Nikita Runnacles also made a
cracking save just before the whistle, only for us to concede a couple of
minutes later. Throughout all of this the crowd had kept up the atmosphere
with cheering, shouts of encouragement and an indefatigable round of
'Bubbles' lead by a troop of little girls in Hammers kits sitting in the
stand.

The Terminator made a couple of subs and we came out fighting for the second
half and looked like a different team. We managed to pull it back to 1-2
with a goal from midfielder Sarah McCrae and again Nikita Runnacles
prevented a bigger goal difference with a save that Adrian would have been
proud of but unfortunately it wasn't enough and the game ended at 1-2 to the
Spuds.

Julian and star goalkeeper Nikita Runnacles
No doubt Julian Dicks was disappointed to have lost his first home game but
it was clear that West Ham Ladies have lots of potential and passion. What
they need now is investment. If they are ever to reach the level of the
Women's Super League to which they aspire they are going to need money and
resources. Having thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of live ladies'
football I came home inspired to learn more about the history of the Women's
Super League and the teams in it.

Top of the league are Chelsea Ladies FC, no surprise there; no doubt they
have a bottomless pit of money to spend on resources and development. They
have their own section on the Chelsea FC website where they are described as
"… a fully integrated female club with performance-based and developmental
objectives." It goes on to say that "The Ladies club, a constituent part of
the comprehensive Community Development Programme at Chelsea, is committed
to producing a first team capable of finishing in the Country's top four
sides." A quick glance at the mind-blowing Chelsea Football Club's Girls'
Centre of Excellence shows that the club certainly put their money where
their mouth is. So far, so predictable.

Chelsea FCs Girl's Centre of Excellence
Second in the WSL and slightly more intriguing, are Birmingham City Ladies
and the background to their success story proved to be very interesting to
somebody concerned with West Ham Ladies current situation. After a brief
outline of their early years their Club History page goes on to say this:

"The Club ran into difficult times during the 90's, with many staff and
player changes. As a result it created an academy of young players to try to
regain stability. Many eventually played for the senior team.

In 1998 Birmingham City Ladies was promoted to the newly created Midland
Combination League and in their first season won the league, thus gaining
automatic promotion into the National Northern Division. After two seasons,
Birmingham Ladies gained promotion to the top flight of women's football,
joining the FA Women's Premier League. The academy had begun to produce
players for the first team at this point, and Laura Bassett became the first
Birmingham City Ladies player, from the academy or otherwise, to appear for
England at full international level.

The club's high-profile manager of the time, Marcus Bignot, signed big name
players including Rachel Yankey and Alex Scott for the 2004/05 season and
Birmingham finished fourth. The club ran into financial problems when
Birmingham City withdrew its support, and had to let major players go before
the start of the 2005/06 season, which they finished in sixth position. The
Club was only able to continue after a player's parent donated £10,000.

Also in 2005, the Club's junior sides joined the newly-formed Centre of
Excellence league in the Central Warwickshire area. Birmingham won their
eighth consecutive Birmingham FA County Cup in 2008 before a number of
established players either retired from the game or moved on to other clubs.

They began to rebuild and finished 2008–09 in fifth place (losing out on
fourth place only through inferior goal difference) and have left Redditch
United for a new stadium at Stratford upon Avon.

In March 2010 the Club was announced as a founder member of the FA WSL. The
Club's successful application was underwritten by Birmingham City's owner
Carson Yeung."
So, despite their great achievements and high profile at the beginning of
this century, Birmingham City's owners took the decision in 2005 to pull the
plug on the women's funding and they only survived because they were bailed
out by a player's parent to the tune of £10,000. Well they didn't just
survive; they went on to become founding members of the WSL and are now
contenders for the title. No thanks to Birmingham City's owners. Remind me
again who they were?

A quick glance at the other two teams in the top four of the Women's Super
League reveals that Liverpool Ladies and Arsenal Ladies FC are also fully
integrated with the men's teams with resources and support that our girls in
claret and blue can only dream of.

Which brings me full circle back to the fund raising appeal set up by West
Ham Ladies captain Stacey Little this week; as outlined in Tommy Wathen's
article on WHTID:

"The Ladies side are a totally self-funded team that play in the FA Women's
Premier League Southern Division and various cup competitions. All the
current players and staff, including first team manager Julian Dicks, are
all completely voluntary and take no payment for their services.

All the players have recently been asked for a generous donation towards the
running costs of the club (kit, pitch fees, equipment costs), but are also
asking whether fans would like to help support the women's club by making a
small donation."
At the time of writing Stacey's appeal has raised £1,160, with donations by
57 people in 2 days. They have a long way to go before they reach their
target of £10,000. Never mind, their raffle last night raised £40, so
hopefully they'll get there before the club has to fold.

Stacey Little - WHL Captain & Fundraiser
News of WHL's plight reached the mainstream media yesterday and an article
highlighting their fundraising appeal appeared on the Guardian website. By
lunchtime yesterday it had disappeared with the advice that it had been
"removed pending investigation" in its place. This morning I followed a link
that was posted yesterday and which said it would take me to a news item on
the West Ham website about Julian Dicks' debut as the voluntary manager of
West Ham Ladies. Strangely this had also disappeared. Clearly something is
afoot.

When I made my donation to the WHL fundraising appeal yesterday I challenged
West Ham United FC to match the amount raised and also to provide regular
financial support to West Ham Ladies and I added the hashtag #westhamfamily.
I reiterate that challenge now and I hope that David Gold, David Sullivan
and Karren Brady agree that West Ham United Ladies deserve the same support
that the women's factions of the big London clubs enjoy and that they should
ultimately become fully integrated with the men's side. After all, don't we
aspire to be one of the big London clubs one day too? To be fair to the club
they do currently provide a training pitch twice a week.

Without significant investment and support West Ham Ladies won't even
survive, let alone have a chance to reach the Women's Super League. With
every unfunded day that passes the gulf between them and the women's teams
in the WSL grows wider and wider. They need investment and they need it now.

I have no affiliation with the West Ham Ladies team whatsoever; I've never
even met any of the players or their families. I'm just a football fan who
wants to see the women's team of the club I have supported my whole life get
the chance to play on a level field.

If you would like to make a donation to the WHL fund you can find a link to
their donation page here. I also noticed in last night's programme that
there are player sponsorship opportunities. The only girl sponsored at the
moment is Lindsey Morgan who is being supported by Scandinavian Hammers and
DB Autos. If you are interested in sponsoring a player or a match day please
email billdotrobinson@yahoo.co.uk

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SHOULD WE PLAY A 4-3-1-2 FORMATION AGAINST HULL CITY?
By S J Chandos 5 Sep 2014 at 12:30
West Ham Till I Die

I have to say that I am particularly happy with the outcome of West Ham's
activity in the summer transfer window. Last season I consistently argued
that: (1) the squad needed a radical overhaul this summer, (2) the board
needed to fund a major upgrade of the squad to the tune of c.£25-30m, (3)
this should create genuine competition in all 11 positions and (4) enable us
to deploy a variety of tactical formations. This window saw all four boxes
ticked, now all that remains is the key, burning question of whether Sam
Allardyce is able to make best use of the talent at his disposal, deploy
alternative formations and produce a more attractive style of football?

The squad now easily posesses the capability to deploy a 4-3-3, 4-4-2,
4-2-1-3, 4-5-1 or, even, a 3-5-2 formation. However, perhaps we should
seriously consider playing a 4-3-1-2 against Hull City. The beauty of this
formation is that it contrives to facilitate playing the Noble-Kouyate-Song
combination in midfield. It also ensures that they provide the necessary
cover to enable Cresswell and either Jenkinson or Demel to support the
attack down the flanks; as well as allowing us to deploy either Zarate or
Amalfitano, in a crucial play-maker role, just behind the strikers. Up
front, we could play two strong, mobile strikers in tandem, maybe Sakho and
Valencia?

The major 'opportunity cost' of this formation is that it consigns our wide
men to the bench. The emphasis being on the full-backs supplying the width
for our our attacking play. Nevertheless, it also facilitates a good
defensive shape, but allows us to hit the opposition on the counter-attack.
For me, good counter-attacking play is a thing of beauty, when done
proficiently, and it is an approach ideally suited for away fixtures. Are
there some good historical examples of West Ham deploying the tactic? Most
certainly. The 1985-86 side played some fantastic expansive football during
the course of that season. However, they were also very adroit at playing on
the counter-attack and getting the ball forward early for Cottee and
McAvennie. The best single instance of it was probably the 0-4 slaughter of
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, when our two strikers used their pace, mobility
and finishing ability to devastating effect. Another example that sticks in
the memory is the sharp, counter-attacking football that we played when we
had Craig Bellamy in the front line. In particular, I will always remember
Bellamy using his pace to destroy Portsmouth, at Fratton Park, in our Boxing
Day fixture of 2008-09, in a very memorable and exciting 4-1 victory.

Unfortunately, I do not expect Sam Allardyce to deploy a 4-3-1-2 against
Hull City. I would not be surprised to see both Jarvis (if fit) and Downing
selected for the Hull City match. That then means that he is likely to
select either Cole or Sakho for the remaining attacking position. In
midfield, he may well play Noble, Kouyate and Song (if the latter is
sufficiently match fit), but that could conspire to exclude Zarate from the
starting line up, while the best that Amalfitano can probably hope for is a
place on the bench, at least until his match fitness is up to speed. And the
same probably applies to Valencia.

Indeed, I suspect that Sam Allardyce is too conservative a manager to play a
4-3-1-2 and he will probably stick to the formations that are more familiar
to him. But who knows, perhaps he will cut-lose and adopt a more radical
approach. In that respect the Hull City match could be both illuminating and
indicative of the direction that his managerment is going to take this
season.

SJ. Chandos.

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MO DIAME ACCUSES SAM ALLARDYCE OF 'SHUNTING HIM AROUND THE TEAM.'
By S J Chandos 5 Sep 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die

The Daily Star are reporting that Mo Diame has accused Sam Allardyce of
'shunting him around the team.' Indeed, the Sengelese international
midfielder, who joined Hull in a £3.5m deadline-day move, claims he would
have moved to a 'bigger club' if he had got better treatment at Upton Park.

He is quoted as asserting that:

"At West Ham I was shunted around all the different positions. I remember
one time I had to play as a striker. That was not good for my career. I
wanted to play for a club that is high in the Premier League table. At least
with Hull I will be certain of playing in my favoured role. I should have
left West Ham a long time ago, as with them I wasn't permitted to play in
central midfield. I wasn't able to get the biggest clubs interested in me,
as when they came to watch me I'd been put in a position that was not mine.
You lose your bearings when you get shunted around all the different
positions."
So, there you have Mo Diame's account of his time at the club. He is
undoubtedly right about being continually played out of position at West
Ham. However, perhaps he is fooling himself if he really thinks that is the
major reason why there was no interest from a 'top six' club? Regardless,
one can only guess how these comments will be interpreted by Hull City fans.
Who could blame them if they concluded that Diame thought himself a cut
above their club and would rather be at Everton or Arsenal. It is certainly
not a great way to start your time at a new club, is it?

Of course, we West Ham fans are used to Diame making these type of
controversial statements in the press. Is this yet another case of Diame
being quoted in a French language journal and failing to realise that it
would inevitably be picked up by the English tabloid press? Probably.

SJ. Chandos.

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West Ham have signed a gem in Aaron Cresswell
by Daryl Hardy
GiveMeSport.com

West Ham have made some big statements in the transfer market this summer,
but the former Ipswich Town full-back Aaron Cresswell could prove to be one
of the most influential. Sam Allardyce has had an uncharacteristically
active transfer window as he looks to resolve the problems that surfaced at
Upton Park last campaign, and nine players have been brought in to revamp
the squad. There has been an abundance of talk about the need for West Ham
to play attacking football this season as they look to climb up the Premier
League table. While you would generally look to the forward players in the
team to provide this, the attacking thrust that Cresswell has supplied from
left-back has been hugely conspicuous in the opening three matches.

Impact

The Hammers have, in the three league matches so far, only picked up three
points but two of those matches have produced exciting and entertaining
performances. While the other against Southampton was, well, disappointing
shall we say – they lost 3-1 at home, and were dismantled in the
second-half.
However, as Allardyce has stated, he has not changed the style in any
significant way, so perhaps it is merely the personnel change that sparked
these vibrant, high energy performances against Tottenham and Crystal
Palace. You needn't look further than the new signing, Cresswell, as to why
this may be. On his Premier League debut in the 1-0 loss to Spurs he
demonstrated his quality at both ends of the pitch.

Attacking thrust

His presence on the left side was remarkable as he looked to constantly bomb
forward and join in with attacks. He provided great width and stretched the
length of the pitch. Cresswell was so active in the opening match that four
of West Ham's top five pass combinations involved him, his enthusiasm and
desire was apparent for all to see. Furthermore, his contributions in the
passing game illuminated the fact that he registered 13 assists for Ipswich
last term, an incredible feat for a full-back. The pace, passing, and
presence of Cresswell will provide an added boost that simply hasn't been
found at his position in some time and he is definitely someone worthy of
getting excited about. While the return of Matt Jarvis in the side, whom he
linked up with extremely well in preseason, can only enhance his
performances and contributions to the team.

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Irons put Barca in the shade
Posted by Sean Whetstone on September 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Sources close to West Ham have exclusively revealed to Claret and Hugh that
the Hammers are paying Alex Song more than he earned at Barcelona. Song is
believed to be on a contract worth between £70,000-£75,000 per week at
Barcelona. But the price of persuading him to the east end is understood to
be an £80,000 weekly package . It was originally thought the Hammers were
contributing 75% of his Barcelona wages as a fee but we have been told
categorically this is not the case. The huge wages puts him just behind Andy
Carroll as the club's second highest wage earner. As previously revealed on
Claret and Hugh, Sam Allardyce started confidential negotiations with Song
in secret many weeks ago for fear of it leaking out. After transfer failures
with Modibo Maiga and Alou Diarra and some would argue Andy Carroll and Matt
Jarvis, Allardyce has certainly put his neck on the line by investing so
much wages in one player. We understand the loan from Barlcelona is believed
to last until May and will cost the Hammers just over £3m The source told us
"We are giving Song MORE wages than he was on at Barcelona, that's why he
came."

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Reid: Time is slipping away
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham are still awaiting a response from Winston Reid's advisers on their
£60k latest offer to the central defender. And a source close to the player
claims that the New Zealander may be being held back from proving himself as
a top defender by the Hammers playing style There is still no agreement and
ClaretandHugh understands new talks will be held over the next fortnight.
The Hammers are keen to nail a deal down as Reid – in the last year of his
contract – could even sign a pre contract for a foreign club in January A
source close to Reid told us exclusively: "Top clubs want players who are
comfortable on the ball and defenders who can play and bring the ball out.
"The Hammers play a more direct game where that approach isn't as high on
the agenda and thus bigger clubs are unsure of the extent of his abilities
and not as quick to make an offer as they otherwise might be! "Talks are
planned over the next couple of weeks which will hopefully sort things out
one way or the other."

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