Daily WHUFC News - 25th November 2014

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce thinks Andy Carroll will benefit from his first 90 minutes of
the season
23.11.2014

Sam Allardyce cited Andy Carroll's first 90 minutes of the season as a
positive point to take away on an otherwise frustrating afternoon for West
Ham United at Everton on Saturday. Carroll started alongside Carlton Cole
and Kevin Nolan for the first time under Allardyce and the trio of forwards
caused the Toffees' defence no end of problems in tense and fiercely
contested match. Big Sam did admit afterwards however that despite Carroll's
hard work to stay in shape, in an ideal world he would not have played the
England international for the full match had there not been such a late
influx of injuries. "Andy's fiancée is the owner of a gym and a yoga centre
and many times in his striving for fitness he's spent some time with her,"
Big Sam said. "She's helped him not so much get fit but stay in good
condition.
"We didn't want to play him for 90 minutes as he's not quite ready for 90
minutes but because of circumstances it had to be that. He coped with it
well and we know he's going to get better the more match fit he gets. "With
the opportunities of other strikers putting pressures on Andy he's got to
get on top of his game. The way Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have played
this year, they've put big pressure on Andy and even Mauro Zarate's
performance as sub was really good. "Andy doesn't feel any pressure - he
looks after himself and thinks he should play every week and rightly so. At
this moment in time he has a little way to go to find his full match
fitness. He did very well for us to complete the 90 minutes. "We hope this
final operation will be one of the major reasons for him not having the same
injury problems as he's had over the last couple of years."

On the whole, the Hammers impressed when the five enforced injuries are
taken into consideration and those that Big Sam was able to select certainly
did their ongoing selection prospects no harm, with Mauro Zarate
particularly impressing with a goal from the bench. The manager started with
three central defenders and wing backs, three in midfield and two up in the
shape of Carroll and Cole. "Circumstance meant we had to look at the players
available and how we could fit them all into our system," he said. "I think
that the back three came because of that scenario. Our attacking full-backs
are that good that playing wing backs would be great for them and would give
us great defensive solidity with the three defenders. "I think with the
first 20-25 minutes we didn't pass the ball and that was a real frustration.
After they scored, we got better and better but unfortunately when we got
better again - Mauro Zarate's introduction made a real difference - we had
to find a goal but we didn't find the other one we should have done. "If
we'd had a point on Saturday I would have been very happy considering our
injury situation and really a point should have been the minimum we should
have taken."

As Big Sam starts his preparations for Saturday's game with Newcastle United
at the Boleyn Ground, his first priority will be to check on the five key
players that were forced to miss Saturday's game. Alex Song [knee], Cheikhou
Kouyate [knee], Stewart Downing [knee], Enner Valencia [knee] and Diafra
Sakho [back] were all ruled out and with only Song and Valencia injured on
Club duty, the manager rued the international fixtures that affected his
other stars. "As the week progressed and you're looking forward to the game,
we had a big disappointment and had to kept quiet about the injuries that
had been picked up by Song and Valencia, which were in the Aston Villa game.
"Then the messages came flooding in from three of our players that had been
on international duty and I think at the moment at least two of those could
have been prevented. For me it shouldn't have had an effect on the result as
we went to Everton with a game plan and I think it worked very well apart
from the first 25 minutes when we were allowing Everton to dominate the play
with our poor possession. We had some fantastic opportunities but we were
simply not clinical enough. "The bottom line is we get a goal and that upset
Everton, who had only won once at home this season and they looked a little
shaky, and it's then you take full advantage, show your killer instinct and
how ruthless you really are and unfortunately we couldn't show that on
Saturday."

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At cross purposes
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 24th November 2014
By: Staff Writer

A failure to provide enough service to the strikers cost West Ham dearly at
Goodison Park on Saturday. The team's game plan largely consisted of
providing supply to the two big front men - Carlton Cole and Andy Carroll -
from wide areas. However United's failute to feed the duo sufficient
ammunition from the flanks ultimately proved to be fatal.

Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Cresswell were charged with providing much of West
Ham's attacking impetus; between them, they provided no less than 26 crosses
(14 from Jenkinson, 12 from Cresswell).

Jenkinson's completion rate of 42 per cent (with five of his 12 centres
finding their target) was just about par or the course, although just two of
Cresswell's 12 crosses managed to find a fellow Hammer.

Everton's 62 clearances (compared to West Ham's 15) came mostly in or around
their penalty box

Andy Carroll, the target for many of those 26 crosses failed to find the net
in what was his first start of the season, but still managed six efforts at
goal - the most by any player on the pitch - whereas his strike partner Cole
failed to have a single shot.

Primarily employed to wear down the Everton defence prior to Mauro Zarate's
introduction, Cole did little to justify his inclusion in the starting XI.
His pass accuracy rate of just 40 per cent was the lowest in the team - and
he managed just 18 touches of the ball, again the lowest.

Zarate, upon being introduced five minutes into the second half looked far
livelier and made the most of his only shot at goal - West Ham's equaliser.
He enjoyed 30 touches of the ball in 40 minutes, with a pass success rate of
73 per cent - the best return from the strikers on show - and converted two
of his six crosses successfully.

Kevin Nolan, asked to perform a far more defensive role than usual, had just
one touch in Everton's penalty area

Another player whose inclusion is regularly questioned is Kevin Nolan, back
in the starting line-up to replace the likes of Cheik Kouyate and Alex Song.
Whilst he failed to provide anything noteworthy, the club captain did manage
to produce three key passes - the most from any Hammer - and cover more
ground than any other West Ham player (6.3 miles).


Everton vs West Ham Utd: In Comparison

Most touches
1. Leon Osman (Everton): 86
2. James McCarthy (Everton): 73
3. Tony Hibbert (Everton): 66

Pass Accuracy
1. Mark Noble (West Ham): 96% from 25 passes
2. Leon Osman (Everton): 93% from 72 passes
3. Ross Barkley (Everton): 93% from 39 passes

Shots at goal
1. Andy Carroll (West Ham): 6
2. Romelu Lukaku (Everton): 4
3. Morgan Amalfitano, Matt Jarvis (West Ham), Ross Barkley, Samuel Eto'o
(Everton): 2

Headers Won
1. Andy Carroll (West Ham): 15
2. James Collins (West Ham): 5
3. Carlton Cole (West Ham), Phil Jagielka (Eveton): 4

Tackles
1. James Tomkins (West Ham): 5
2. Tony Hibbert (Everton): 4
3. Mark Noble (West Ham), Steven Naismith (Everton): 3

Clearances
1. Phil Jagielka (Everton): 17
2. Sylvain Distin (Everton): 12
3. Tony Hibbert, James McCarthy (Everton): 7

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Bargain! West Ham could sign Allardyce's £9.5m summer target for free
HITC
Olly Dawes

West Ham United failed in a £9.5m bid for Yevhen Konoplyanka this summer -
but now they could sign him for nothing. Despite Saturday's 2-1 defeat to
Everton, West Ham are on course for a superb season. The Hammers have won
five of their opening 12 games this season, sitting sixth in the Premier
League table - and with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all struggling to
find any consistency, manager Sam Allardyce has a chance of earning European
qualification for next season. Even after splashing out in the summer for
the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Alex Song, Morgan Amalfitano, Diafra Sakho and
Enner Valencia, West Ham will need to add more new faces in January if they
are to really push for a top six finish. Allardyce may well be backed with
more money to spend, and it would be little surprise to see him rekindle his
interest in Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk ace Yevhen Konoplyanka.

The Ukrainian winger, 25, was linked with Liverpool, Manchester United and
Tottenham over the summer, but West Ham made an audacious £9.5m bid - which
was rejected as Dnipro aimed to get £12m for him. That decision could prove
costly, as Konoplyanka is about to enter the final six months of his
contract with Dnipro, and doesn't look like he'll be signing a new contract
any time soon. That means that West Ham would be able to negotiate a
pre-contract agreement with Konoplyanka, enabling him to join the club for
free next summer. Alternatively, the Hammers could offer another fee to sign
Komplyanka in the hope that Dnipro will take a cut-price fee to avoid losing
him for nothing.
West Ham don't play with wingers anymore as Allardyce has switched to a
4-4-2 diamond, but Konoplyanka's skillset actually lends itself to playing
behind the strikers - the same switch made by Stewart Downing this season.
It would be an ambitious move by West Ham, but if they were willing to pay
£9.5m to sign him this summer, then he will surely be on their radar as a
potential free transfer - and signing Konoplyanka would be a huge statement
of intent for their rivals.

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Ecuador pinning Copa hopes on Valencia - coach
BY JAVIER LEIRA
SANTIAGO Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:09pm GMT
Oct 14, 2014; Harrison,

(Reuters) - Ecuador have a "spectacular" forward in West Ham United's Enner
Valencia who only needs to gain a bit more confidence in the English Premier
league to join soccer's elite, according to national coach Sixto Vizuete.
Valencia was his country's standout player at this year's World Cup, scoring
all three of their goals, and is sure to be at the forefront of Ecuador's
Copa America title challenge in Chile next year. "Enner is spectacular. I
hope God is with him and he enjoys the same bright form now he's in England.
He will complicate any defence there," Vizuete told Reuters in an interview
at the weekend ahead of Monday's draw for the June 11-July 4 Copa America
tournament. The 25-year-old made his international debut in 2012 and
gradually won a leading role in the team for whom he has scored 11 goals.
"He needs a bit more experience in England, be given more confidence. With
Ecuador he already has that confidence, all Ecuador's fans trust him. We
know that in Enner we have the goalscorer and everyone is sending those good
vibes for him to remain in form," Vizuete said.

Valencia's performances at the World Cup in Brazil and his top-scoring
exploits with Pachuca in the Mexican league in the first half of this year
earned him his transfer to West Ham. However, his early months in England
have not been easy for the South American with only three goals in a handful
of games. How Valencia plays in Chile will be vital for Ecuador, who have
never won the Copa America, the oldest active national teams competition in
the world, and have failed since 1997 to progress beyond the group phase.
Colombian Reinaldo Rueda survived Ecuador's poor 2011 tournament in
Argentina thanks to backing from the country's President Rafael Correa and
took the team to the World Cup after successfully seeing them through the
qualifiers. But after the team failed to reach the last 16 his contract was
not renewed with Vizuete, the national federation's head of development,
taking charge as caretaker. "We have to change Ecuador's history in the Copa
America, that's our main goal. We need to go further and then see what that
leads to," said the 53-year-old Vizuete, who hopes to be confirmed as head
coach in January. "No-one is going to give anything away at the Copa
America, the teams are all pretty even. Whoever has the most experience and
is in the best shape at the hour of truth will surely win the tournament."

Vizuete, who led Ecuador to their only international title, the soccer gold
medal at the 2007 Panamerican Games, said investing in the country's juniors
was the way forward. "A national team must have a work plan with the juniors
so that when it's their turn they won't disappoint in any way," said
Vizuete, who has promoted exciting forwards Joao Plata of MLS side Real Salt
Lake and Juan Cazares, who has spent his formative years in Argentina, first
with River Plate and now at Banfield. "The juniors are the starting point,
we have youngsters working with us from the age of 15 and when they get to
the senior team they won't have problems (slotting in)."

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West Ham striker Mauro Zarate turns to Shenfield cycling guru to help his
fitness
By PiersMeyler | Posted: November 24, 2014
Brentwood Gazette

Upton Park striker Mauro Zarate has turned to a Shenfield cycling guru to
help his fitness and keep him in West Ham's starting line-up.
Argentine Mauro, who set up home in Hutton Mount after signing for the
Hammers earlier this year, followed a long list of West Ham players to head
for The Discount Cycle Centre on Chelmsford Road, Shenfield to get fitted
for a new high-end bike. "I'm a big West Ham fan so it's always great to
help out the players when they come into the shop for their news bikes, "
said shop owner Tony Harries. "Mark Noble and Trevor Brooking were in
recently and I know Andy Carroll likes to get out on a bike. Maybe the
players are setting up their own bike team, " he joked.

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"Zarate – the perfect professional"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Mauro Zarate's cameo performance in the match against Everton has shown what
might happen should the manager Sam Allardyce finally decide to show real
faith in the player. Even Andy Carroll has joined the Argentinian's fan club
praising him to the skies of the club's official site and thus giving Sam
Allardyce a real decision to make. For given everything that we saw on
Saturday, it will come as a massive shock if Zarate again finds himself
playing second fiddle to Carlton Cole. Carroll sees him as a game changer
and a guy who can truly unsettle some of the best defences in the land. As
the big man prepares to for the visit of his hometown club – Newcastle – on
Saturday he would clearly get a big boost from having Mauro alongside him.
He told the official site: ""He is great. He has got quick feet, he is nippy
and he gets in and around defenders. He's a great player and he showed that
on Saturday because he changed the game when he came on."

I can't believe that Carlton Cole will get the shout ahead of Zarate of whom
one insider told ClaretandHugh: "At his best he is world class and is now
totally injury free. We all expected him to play on Saturday. "But fair play
to him. Despite his reputation for reacting when things go against him, he's
been the model professional since he arrived here and has just got on with
it. There's not been a single complaint. "He got lost when the play went
long in the last half an hour at Goodison but if we play to his strengths we
will definitely lessen the impact of the current injury situation."

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Tomkins behaviour was shocking!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

James Tomkins shocking play-acting at Everton on Saturday – during that
handbags confrontation with Ross Barkley – was quite simply shameful! A
couple of comments from the Facebook forum – and nobody excuses the Everton
midfielder – say it all: "Both players were a disgrace. I don't want to see
that from any player, regardless of what shirt they're wearing." And: "They
were cheating. Plain and simple. Just embarrassing. I'd be interested to
hear Tomkins explanation to my seven year old son asking me: "Why is he
pretending the other player hit him the face." In a word Tomkins behaviour
was inexcusable and you really have to worry when you see one of our guys
rolling around like that when absolutely nothing happened of any
consequence. The club will never tell us of course but if the bloke isn't
hit with a wage deduction as punishment that will be equally shameful. It's
not the first time he has been guilty of bad behaviour of course and it has
to stop. We can hardly be throwing stones in the direction of others when we
see that sort of behaviour going on from our own. Word to the co-chairman
and manager: "Punishment required AND NO REPEATS!"

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Gold's injury report dubbed "optimistic"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Chiekhou Kouyate was this morning reported to be making "decent progress" as
the Hammers medical staff work on the walking wounded which has made the
dressing room look like a set from "Casualty." And despite a tweet from co
chairman David Gold claiming all the injured players are in contention for
the weekend our own sources claim that Chiek is the only definite starter.

Stewart Downing is believed to have an outside chance of making it whilst
Diafra Sakho's back spasms are very much a matter for investigation. Gold –
giving his assessment of Saturday's performance – said: "We lost against
Everton because we had 5 of our best player out injured. It's bound to have
a bad effect on the result when you lose 5 players." He suggested that they
could be back for the weekend but we were told: "That seems a very
optimistic appraisal from where the medical staff are sitting. "Chiek looks
okay and likely to make it but the same question marks over the others as
before the Sarurday game but a week is a lot of time in football!"

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"Sharp words" for Tomkins after faking it
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

James Tomkins received a very strong dressing down for his play acting when
collapsing to the ground after a handbags confrontation on Saturday. The
central defender collapsed pretending he had been hit in the face when
clearly nothing of the sort had taken place between the two players. The
game had become highly bad tempered after the midfielder's blatant dive when
not being touched by Kevin Nolan.
But the match boiled over when McCarthy went over the top on Morgan
Amalfitano and Tomkins behaviour was clearly linked to the atmosphere
iniside Goodison as a result. A club source told us exclusively: "James
received some very sharp words. In reality he made a bad spontaneous
decision and we are certain he'll never do it again. The team were
frustrated at being kicked to bits by Everton – the McCarthy foul was an
obvious sending off."

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Hammers may sue FA over Downing
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham are discussing the "very real possibility" of suing the Football
Association after playing unfit Stewart Downing in the friendly
international against Scotland following a pain killing injection! The
rumour first emerged on Twitter last night via @Ironviews and was confirmed
as true by a highly placed source inside Upton Park to ClaretandHugh within
the last few minutes. Downing was reported to have taken a knock while
training with England but claimed after the game he was likely to play at
Everton on Saturday after being involved in the first 45 minutes of the
international. Now Boleyn officials and Sam Allardyce are utterly furious
that England boss Roy Hodgson chose to play this season's key man after
being given an injection. The original tweet declared: "Hearing a rumour
that Sam Allardyce is furious with Hodgson for playing Downing with a
painkilling injection. Club talking about suing FA." And when we approached
highly reliable sources inside the club a few minutes ago we were told: "Yes
that's 110 per cent true. It's possible we will sue although the FA may
accept responsibility and pay compensation."

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The big Kevin Nolan question
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 24, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Kevin Nolan's performance on Saturday at Goodison Park has received a lot of
criticism with many fans asking whether he is still up to the job. With
five injuries at the weekend Sam Allardyce was forced to start with his 32
year old enforcer but he looked off the pace and lacking quality in his
first full match back since being displaced. Many supporters have called the
early recall of Diego Poyet from Huddersfield to give another option in
midfield after Stewart Downing, Alex Song and Cheik Kouyate picked up
injuries. Whether Nolan is just lacking match fitness, confidence or is just
past it is the question on everyone's mind. It is claimed he has lost over a
stone in weight to improve his fitness this season but on Saturday Osman
sailed past him with ease to score the winner. There is no doubt he is a
great leader both on and off the pitch but should he command his £200,000
per month wages he currently costs West Ham. Nolan is contracted until 16th
2016 on his lucrative five year contract, We need to see more contribution
and chicken dances soon for him to pay his way.

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