Daily WHUFC News - 25th January 2018

Martinez: Partnering Chicharito would be a dream come true
WHUFC.com

Toni Martinez says his dream will come true if he partners his 'idol'
Chicharito in attack at Wigan Athletic on Saturday. Injuries mean the young
Spaniard and Mexican are both likely to be involved in the Emirates FA Cup
fourth-round clash with the EFL League One leaders at the DW Stadium. And
the 20-year-old is excited by the prospect of playing alongside the striker
he watched playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid as a schoolboy. "I
wish I could play alongside Chicharito because he is one of my idols. It
would be a dream come true for me to play with him and, if I do, I'm going
to try to do my best and I am sure the goals will come," said Martinez.
"It's unbelievable when I think about players like Chicharito, who I can
remember watching at home on television when I was 12-years-old, and it was
my dream to play like him, and now I could play alongside him. Now, if I get
the opportunity to play with him, it would make that dream come true."

Martinez himself impressed in West Ham's third-round replay win over another
League One promotion-chaser, Shrewsbury Town, leading the line and assisting
Reece Burke's extra-time winner. With Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll ruled
out, the prolific youngster featured in both third-round ties against
Shrewsbury and was named on the substitutes' bench for Saturday's 1-1
Premier League draw with AFC Bournemouth. While he has sympathy for his
injured teammates, Martinez knows one player's misfortune is another's gain.
"I feel sorry for the other players, as injuries are no good for us and I
wish all the best for their recoveries, but their injuries bring me an
opportunity to show what I can do and I'm going to try to do my best and
impress the manager if I can. "Injuries are part of the game and, of course,
they are no good for anybody and I hope the boys are going to be back soon."

Martinez scored against Newcastle United and Middlesbrough while on loan at
Oxford United last season, and the forward is looking forward to featuring
in the world's most-famous knockout competition again. "I can't wait for the
next Cup game. The FA Cup is very important to West Ham, so we have to win
the game and get through. "I like the FA Cup and I'm going to do something
important again in the next game. I got two goals last season and an assist
against Shrewsbury, so we will see what happens in this one."

Having played in League One himself last season, Martinez knows an in-form
Wigan will be a tough nut to crack. The Latics have a strong squad and are
unbeaten in 14 matches dating back to 18 November. "I am not surprised with
the level of the League One clubs like Shrewsbury, as I played in that
division with Oxford last season, so I know they can play. "One hundred per
cent, the game on Saturday will not be easy. Wigan are top of the league and
they will try to play a bit more even than Shrewsbury, but hopefully we can
do better and get the win first time around this time."

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Noble: Hitting Premier League landmark feels phenomenal
WHUFC.com

When Mark Noble stepped onto the pitch a month ago at Stoke City, it was an
incredibly proud moment for the Newham-born West Ham United skipper. A
little over 12 years after making his debut in the competition, the Hammers'
3-0 victory at Stoke marked Noble's 300th Premier League appearance in
Claret & Blue.
Not only is Noble the first player in the club's Premier League history to
reach the milestone in their colours, but he has also spent his entire
career in east London after coming through the Academy ranks. Reaching the
landmark was a feeling Noble could never have envisaged a decade ago, but
one which makes him want to experience yet more highs with the club. He
said: "To reach 300 Premier League games not only with the club you support,
but the one you're born half-a-mile away from, where you used to kick the
ball up against the gates and try to sneak in without a ticket, is
incredible. "I made my debut in this league when I was 18. We had just been
promoted and I was named as a substitute against Blackburn. I came on for
Hayden Mullins and I remember going home afterwards and sitting on the end
of my mum and dad's bed a mile down the road from the ground. So to now
captain this great football club is special. "The two best games were both
against Manchester United – the one where Carlos Tevez scored for us to stay
in the Premier League and the last ever game at the Boleyn, which was just
such an emotional occasion. "I'm always going to be associated with West Ham
and playing so many games for the club you support in the Premier League is
phenomenal."

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New date for Manchester United clash
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's March fixture changes have been confirmed, with the visit
of Manchester United to London Stadium having been selected for live
broadcast.
The meeting with the Red Devils will now be played on Sunday 18 March, with
a 1.30pm kick-off. Please note that this fixture round coincides with the
date of the Emirates FA Cup sixth round. Should either the Hammers or
Manchester United progress to that stage of the competition, the fixture
will have to be rescheduled for later in the season.

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West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 24th January 2018
By: HeadHammerShark


"Why everything's turned inside out, instilling so much doubt
It makes me so tired, I feel so uninspired"
- Bic Runga, "Sway"


Thirty eight days.

Eleven games.

One replay.

120 minutes.

Ten injuries.

Zero new signings.

The sixth highest average attendance in Europe.

The thirteenth highest wage bill in Europe.

The tenth highest supporter spend in Europe.

The seventeenth highest revenues in Europe.

Still, Shrewsbury were well organised.

I don't think it should be too much of a surprise to anyone that we ran out
of steam today. This was a team that was not so much running on empty, as
crawling on their bloody hands and injured knees toward a far off oasis in
the desert. Since playing Arsenal on December 13th we have been averaging
two games a week and as a result our dressing room has a distinct ER vibe to
it.

5.55pm. The West Ham dressing room. Gary Lewin - what a signing!


This week Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Cresswell hobbled off to join Jose Fonte,
Winston Reid, Edmilson Fernandes, Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho, {pauses - my
fingers are cramping} Michail Antonio, Andre Ayew and Reece Oxford in the
corridors of Whipps Cross Hospital, and as a result our bench was like a
boyband audition. It is rarely promising when your substitutes are warming
up while singing "Backstreet's Back".

Worse still was the news this morning that Marko Arnautovic will also miss
significant time, with another hamstring related injury that we can't say we
weren't warned about by Arsenal fans, after they had years of them under
Gary Lewin.

But our failure to beat Bournemouth wasn't for a lack of effort, or indeed
of quality, but more a lack of fit bodies able to summon up the necessary
energy levels needed to influence games at this level. We dominated the
opening exchanges of each half, but couldn't find the breach in the wall
that would have allowed us to pour through. Bournemouth probably deserve
some credit for that, as they defended stoutly, rode their luck and engaged
in some typically world class shithousery.

But for all we might feel that we were the dominant force in the game, it is
worth pointing out that we were dead on our feet for the last period. After
Lanzini went off with the first hamstring injury heard all around the world,
we retreated deeper and deeper and resorted to smashing the ball long in the
vain hope that Javier Hernandez had transmogrified himself into Andy
Carroll.

What all of this did was highlight the folly of this squad composition.
Watching us put out a team at the moment is to be reminded of a Guy Ritchie
thriller, in so much as the twists are inevitable and when it happens it's
not actually thrilling. This is a disaster that has been months in the
making and if you'll excuse me repeatedly beating this dead horse I see here
in front of me, it is unbelievable that nobody at the club apparently saw
this coming.

We regularly top the Premier League injury tables, sold off more players
than we brought in, and overloaded ourselves in areas where we didn't need
to by buying players wholly unsuited to our playing style. If this January
goes the way we all think it will, then it would be the fifth consecutive
transfer window where the recruitment team at West Ham has failed. That is
some fucking record for people still in a job.

So while Joe Hart sits on our bench picking up a six figure weekly salary
for being inferior to our current keeper, we are forced to turn to members
of Blazin' Squad just to patch up our midfield with minutes to go in a
crucial game against relegation rivals. I say again - it defies belief that
apart from Bilic, those same people are still making the decisions about the
composition of our playing staff.

So, as frustrating as this game was, I think this was a fair enough result
given the circumstances. I couldn't fault the efforts of our exhausted
players, and on another day with some better luck we might have been ahead
at half time and given ourselves the opportunity to hit the visitors on the
break. As it is, perhaps everyone at the club can resolve to never again
approach a transfer window using the motto "Fortune Favours The Old".

***

"Lord, I tried enough, kept on hoping
Kept my fingers crossed, I tried everything I know"
- The Boothill Foot-Tappers, "Get Your Feet Out Of My Shoes"


After the game I was keen to see this Caley Graphics shot map as I was
interested to see how many truly good chances we created. We had so much of
the ball and pressed so well that it felt dominant, but I couldn't recall
too many clear cut opportunities. For instance, Pablo Zabaleta picked out
Marko Arnautovic with a fizzing first half cross and Asmir Begovic pulled
off a great save to deny the Austrian, but in reality I'm not sure he could
have done much more than he did, given that the ball arrived at such pace
and through a crowd of defenders. It was straight at Begovic and he did well
to tip it over.

As it turned out our best chance was probably when James Collins flicked a
header across goal for the stretching Lanzini to miss by inches at the back
post. I'm not sure it's a failure of xG as such, but chances like that don't
get captured on the map above.

But what was most encouraging in this game doesn't really show up there
either. Our football in the first half was as good as I've seen since Payet
left, and perhaps better than anything we've produced since we played
Chelsea off the park at Stamford Bridge in 2016. A game we drew, by the way.
See if you can guess who refereed that day and awarded Chelsea a last minute
penalty when Ruben Loftus Cheek fell over his own feet outside the box (*).

Arnautovic and Lanzini continued to show that quick thinking footballers
able to carry the ball at pace will inevitably always pose a threat. Behind
them our defensive pressing was outstanding, which meant that the visitors
simply couldn't get out of their own half. Having Cresswell back helped as
he snapped at the heels of attackers, and made sure that the distribution
had a bit less of a "smacking golf balls into the sea" feel than it did when
Collins and Ogbonna were having a go in his absence.

But as Begovic stood firm, we faded gradually because pressing with that
intensity requires a team with an average age of lower than 54. Not long
before half time I thought Bournemouth had scored when a well worked corner
kick flashed narrowly wide, but in general it felt that we'd let them off
the hook by not capitalising on that early pressure.

The second half, however, saw an upturn in fortunes as we pressed well once
again and began creating lots of promising situations going forward. There
was still frustration as we seemed to always be a slightly misplaced pass
away from being in, but we still had enough ascendancy to feel like the late
winner would be ours. Somewhat typically then, we conceded with twenty
minutes to go as Ryan Fraser slipped into the right side centre half's
channel and ran on to a lovely Junior Stanislas pass to drive home the
opener.

I thought Adrian got himself into a bit of a mess with his positioning and
ended up in the middle of nowhere and pointless, like a footballing
Creamfields if you will, but it was still a good finish. Sadly, this was
another goal conceded between our golden oldies of Collins and Zabaleta and
perhaps a salutary reminder that when half your back four qualifies for a
free bus pass, it's probably not wise to leave them one on one with fast,
nippy wingers.

Mercifully, Bournemouth then unveiled a flawless homage to Huddersfield as
they allowed us to equalise directly from kick off, when an Ogbonna punt was
flicked on by both Kouyate and Hernandez to Arnautovic. His shot was blocked
by Ake but bounced up nicely for Hernandez who poked home from ten yards. If
you haven't seen the goal, it is pretty much exactly what we signed him for,
and an enduring reminder of the value of a goal poacher. Rather than being
the springboard to a full blooded finale, however, it felt rather more like
the culmination of a month's worth of Herculean effort. We faded badly, and
were indebted to a couple of Adrian saves and some diffident finishing to
hold out for a point. For all that the visitors looked dangerous and so, so
pace on the break, in fairness, a defeat would have been wildly unjust.

(*) Bobby Madley. But you knew that. Even if you didn't.

***

"And I suppose that's the price you pay
Well, oh, it isn't what it was"
- Arctic Monkeys, "Leave Before the Lights Come On"


And now, at last, a break of sorts as we go to Wigan in the Cup. But for
Lanzini that break will last for at least a month and for Arnautovic three
weeks, and will rule them out of the vital home games with Crystal Palace
and Brighton. With them goes all of our attacking drive, leaving us at the
mercy of playing Hernandez or Ayew and all the evidence so far suggests that
the lack of artistry will be painful, and that this will work out about as
well as the time that Glen Roeder decided we didn't need any cover up front
as we had Ian Pearce in case things got a bit hairy.

Shit


All of this seems to me to be an inevitable corollary of having to play such
a ludicrous schedule, and using so few players in doing so. I know that some
fans think it was worth risking or even sacrificing our Premier League
status for a tilt at the FA Cup, and while I don't agree, I realise there
are many that do.

But this is the cost.

Lanzini played the full 120 minutes in the midweek game against Shrewsbury,
and Arnautovic came on as a substitute and when the body is pushed to those
sorts of limits then you see muscle injuries occur. In any other year, with
a better constructed squad and more cover and with the league not being so
tightly contested I would be the first to demand a cup challenge, but none
of that is the case right now. It is to the eternal shame of the club, but
we simply don't have the playing resources to compete on two fronts at the
moment.

I think, therefore, that this has been the first misstep that Moyes has
made, and by overplaying the likes of Lanzini, Arnautovic, Ogbonna, Masuaku,
Kouyate and Obiang he opened us up to an unnecessary and potentially fatal
risk of being without them in games that really matter. It is my fervent
hope that when that team is announced at Wigan on Saturday that the most
common response from most us will be "who?"

What is particularly painful about losing Lanzini and Arnautovic is that
their nascent partnership was just starting to take shape. I'm not sure I
really believe that there is anything much more to it than just the simple
fact that they are both classy players who understand the way in which the
other is trying to work. Those movements into space that each of them can
read before the other does it - to me that's just what good players do, and
they do it better than any of our other strikers.

Presumably we will now see Hernandez return, at which point I suspect we
will see the canny interplay disappear, as we will simply have to try and
figure out ways of getting the ball into the box at the earliest opportunity
for the Mexican to try and latch on to. My worry about that is that it
places too much burden on uncreative players to do the creating, but also
that we've been so ineffective when Hernandez has been on the pitch. This is
primarily because he likes to play high, and off the last defender and he's
not really into the idea of mazy dribbles and quick one twos that pull
defences open. At present our most inventive attacking threat is probably
Arthur Masuaku. Let's all take a moment shall we.

With our yeoman midfield behind providing stability but not much attacking
threat, we really, really, really need the medics to patch up Michail
Antonio and then find Jack's YouTube password because when the entire bottom
half of the table is separated by two wins, you cannot take survival for
granted. Plenty will disagree, I know, and it pains me to say it because I
have frequently said that if we aren't trying to entertain and win trophies
then we're merely taking up space, but that was also said in the context of
us having a squad that could beat Shrewsbury without needing 210 minutes to
do it. It's also true that the league doesn't have any obviously cut adrift
teams at this point - God, I miss Sunderland - meaning that a couple of
losses can drop a team like a stone.

Where have you gone, Jozy Altidore, our nation turns it lonely eyes to you


I would even go so far as to suggest that this might be the most important
eight days of Sullivan's tenure so far. Inertia now could see us relegated.
A typical overspend could see us unable to sign anyone in the summer. Ho
hum, Sully, you haven't even told us how hard you're working yet. Is
everything ok?

I'm not saying that I don't understand those who would prioritise a Cup run
over league position, but I think it does need to be pointed out that the
league position we might end up forfeiting could be 17th. That seems far too
high a price to pay for the inevitable Fifth Round away trip to Old
Trafford.

***

"I'm crazy
Crazy for feeling so blue"
- Willie Nelson, "Crazy"

Here is something I observed on Saturday which I have decided to call The
Three Stages of Pablo Zabaleta.

Picks up the ball on the edge of his box

I am abandoning my post and going on a wonderful adventure!

Passes the halfway line

Blimey, I'm certainly not playing for Manchester City anymore am I! Where
the fuck is everyone?


Loses the ball high up the pitch

Oh my God. There are people trying to kill me, everything is on fire and
their winger is in behind me again! I think Big Andy's gone down again!

I think Pablo needs a rest.

***

"Oh I really want to know
So tell me, where does all the money go?"
- The Libertines, "What a Waster"


I wonder, then, about our transfer activity. Things have changed a lot in
the last eighteen months, as the fan backlash finally seems to have
convinced the club to keep more of their activity in house and limit
official announcements made via the Twitter account of the owners' teenage
son. (I wonder how many times Real Madrid bloggers have ever had to write a
sentence like that).

But what also seems to be evident is that something is off. We shipped out
more players than we brought in this summer, and some even requiring our CFO
to look up the term "profit" for the first time. But even with that, and
even with the alleged increased revenues from the move, we still seem to be
wanting to let someone go before we can bring anyone in.

If that is true, it suggests that the next company accounts will be
fascinating reading. We've seen the Mayor's report so we know that West Ham
contributed very little to the stadium conversion, meaning that the bulk of
our costs are therefore out on the pitch. I don't know the details of our
wage structure, but Hart and Hernandez are perhaps the two best paid in the
squad. Along with Carroll and Reid they occupy a huge slab of our overheads
and yet are so rarely on the pitch.

So. Much. Money.


The folly of not treating good health as a skill on a par with finishing or
passing is once more haunting us, as we suffer our annual injury crisis and
are again forced to convert Rush Green into a field hospital. It still
boggles my mind that anyone would want us to sign Jack Wilshere given that
this crisis is literally a yearly occurrence. Karren should really replace
the crossed Hammers with crutches if she wants total brand synergy.

I've written in the past about the stupidity of our January transfer
activity, and we shouldn't ignore the fact that when you do dumb things like
pay £10m for Robert Snodgrass, the repercussions of that are felt for a
while. It's entirely possible that we wasted some of the summer budget last
January, and the domino effect has trickled all the way to here. If I'm
honest, I can't actually see how that could be the case given that we got
£25m for Dimitri Payet, but I'm clutching at straws, because the alternative
is that they spent it all on wages or are choosing not to spend money at
all, and either of those would be too depressing a reality for a January
evening.

As it is, I don't want the club to waste yet more money on desperation
signings, but doing nothing is no longer an option. A deeper midfielder is
vital to cover Noble and Obiang, and a player with the ability to create
chances is equally important, be they a striker or a wide player. I have no
idea where Moyes goes from here tactically, but we'll probably have to
accept a reversion to the cautious defensive pragmatism of his early days as
we try and inch our way clear of the quagmire. It is at times like this that
I am grateful to have him - the thought of Bilic trying to get something out
of this team is terrifying.

And so it is that we might look back on these cold, soaking wet, slate grey
January games and be eternally grateful for the points we eked out when we
were at our lowest ebb. This might feel like a disappointing result, but
context remains our friend and with our sights now set so low they might as
well be underground, this scrambled equaliser could be priceless.

And so on we limp, the walking wounded who now finding walking a bit of a
struggle. Context might be important, but on another day, at a later date,
with safety secured, we're really going to have to have a chat about what we
all think is an acceptable return for all of those big numbers at the top of
this article. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't feel like
this is it.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.

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West Ham close to signing Joao Mario on loan from Inter Milan
Last Updated: 24/01/18 8:27pm
SSN

West Ham are close to a deal to loan Joao Mario from Inter Milan after the
midfielder had a change of heart about the move, according to Sky sources.
The 25-year-old was initially reluctant to move to West Ham but is now
believed to be open to making the switch to London. The deal between the two
clubs will see Mario move to West Ham on loan with an option to make the
deal permanent for £26m in the summer. Mario has featured intermittently
this season for Inter following the arrival of Luciano Spalletti as manager.
The Portugal international may have fallen further down the pecking order at
the San Siro following the arrival of Rafinha from Barcelona on Tuesday.
Mario joined the Italian side for £35m from Sporting Lisbon in 2016 after
helping his country to victory at Euro 2016.

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West Ham home in on Joao Mario
Jason Burt, chief football correspondent
24 JANUARY 2018 • 9:43PM
Telegraph.co.uk

West Ham United are close to agreeing a deal to sign midfielder Joao Mario
from Inter Milan. Talks have continued between the two clubs over the size
of the loan fee but it is understood that Mario has already agreed on the
move which is expected to include an option to buy him at the end of the
season.

Inter had asked for a loan fee of £1mn for the 25-year-old Portuguese
international who was also wanted by Watford – before the sacking of head
coach Marco Silva - and a number of other clubs around Europe. West Ham, who
will cover his wages, do not want to pay that much but talks are continuing.

West Ham manager David Moyes has made strengthening his midfield a priority
during this transfer window and has been considering a number of options.
Mario has more than 30 caps for Portugal and cost Inter £36m when he moved
from Sporting Lisbon in 2016.

Moyes has also run the rule over Real Betis midfielder Fabián Ruiz and
watched him play in the 5-0 defeat by Barcelona where he also watched
Barça's Andre Gomes who is out of West Ham's reach.

While Moyes was in Spain, West Ham's assistant manager Stuart Pearce watched
Anderlecht's Leander Dendoncker but the trip proved to be wasted as he
played in defence. Dendoncker had been identified by director of player
recruitment Tony Henry, but the fact he has been playing at the back has
pushed the 22-year-old down West Ham's list of midfield targets.

West Ham are dealing with a raft of injuries with Andy Carroll out for three
months after undergoing an operation on a hairline fracture to his foot.
Manuel Lanzini is also out for two to four weeks with a hamstring injury
while there is also concern over Marko Arnautovic. Arnautovic has been in
impressive form recently, scoring six times in his last 10 appearances but
also has a possible hamstring problem.

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Marko Arnautovic delivers message to West Ham fans after sustaining
hamstring injury
The forward could miss three weeks of action with a hamstring injury
Football London
ByTashan Deniran-Alleyne
20:00, 24 JAN 2018

West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic has taken to social media and vowed
to come back stronger from his injury setback. Ahead of the FA Cup
fourth-round clash against Wigan Athletic this weekend, the Hammers were
dealt a double injury blow with the news that the Austrian as well as
influential playmaker Manuel Lanzini both suffered hamstring problems during
the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth last time out. It's been reported since that
one is more serious than the other but both players are set for an extended
spell on the sidelines - at a time where David Moyes can't afford to be
without two key players. Unfortunately, Lanzini's injury is deemed more
serious. He was substituted just past the hour mark at the London Stadium
last weekend and following a scan on Monday and it is feared he will be out
for at least six weeks with his problem. Meanwhile, Arnautovic felt his
hamstring in the early stages of the clash against the Cherries but
completed the entire 90 minutes and the early indication is that he will
miss three weeks of action - although it could be more.
In a bid to raise spirits amongst supporters, the 28-year-old has posted a
message via his official Instagram account which read: "Come Back Stronger"
with the 'COYI' hashtag accompanying it. Since Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic
as manager in early November, Arnautovic has been one of many players to
respond in some style. His first Premier League goal earned a shock 1-0 win
over Chelsea last month and his form has continued to rise. He's got five
goals and three assists in his last six league outings, but along with
Lanzini looks set to miss games against upcoming games in the top flight of
English football against Crystal Palace, Watford, Brighton, Liverpool and
Brighton & Hove Albion.

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