Daily WHUFC News - 28th May 2018

Noble: I'm relishing Pellegrini's attacking approach
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble is relishing the prospect of playing in an attack-minded,
possession-based West Ham United team under Manuel Pellegrini. The Chilean
has forged a reputation for putting together sides who play on the front
foot, dominate the ball and score plenty of goals. And the captain, who
regularly leads West Ham's own possession stats, cannot wait to start
working with the man who led a record-breaking Manchester City to the
Premier League title in 2014. "As captain, I am looking forward to welcoming
the new manager to the Club when we return for pre-season training," said
the two-time Hammer of the Year, who launched the I'm Forever campaign for
the Club's new 2018/19 Umbro Home and Away kits on Friday. "I'm sure I'll
have a chat with him before then and I'll definitely give him the lowdown on
West Ham United and what the Club means to its supporters, although I am
sure he has already done his own homework and knows plenty about the Club
and its traditions. "He will be looking to the future, too, and I'm sure he
will bring in his own staff and we will be linked to lots of potential new
signings over the next few weeks!"

Pellegrini's City scored a record 151 goals in his first season at the club
and Noble believes his forward-thinking approach will go down well, both in
the dressing room and in the stands. "As players, it's always more enjoyable
when you have the ball than when you are chasing the other team around, so I
was pleased when I heard him say he wants to excite the fans and play
attacking football. "West Ham fans love it when we take it to the
opposition, particularly the big boys, and it sounds like we're going to
give it a right go. "I'm already looking forward to getting back to Rush
Green and starting work under him."

Pellegrini led all four European clubs he has managed – Villarreal, Real
Madrid, Malaga and Manchester City – to the UEFA Champions League knockout
stages, and becomes the first Premier League winner to take charge at West
Ham. The skipper, like so many of his fellow fans, is enthused by his
arrival. "It's an exciting appointment for everyone associated with the
Club, as Manuel Pellegrini has a great record, has managed some top clubs
and is known for playing entertaining football," the No16 observed. "Perhaps
just as importantly, seeing how we are in a results business in the Premier
League, he wins football matches. "To have a manager who has managed Real
Madrid and Manchester City, won the Premier League title and led four
different clubs in the Champions League shows that the Chairmen mean
business. They said they wanted to bring in a top-level manager and that's
what they've done."

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Rice ready for end-of-season Ireland friendlies
WHUFC.com

Declan Rice is hoping to end a memorable season on a high as he prepares for
two high-profile Republic of Ireland friendly internationals The teenager
played more than 30 first-team matches for West Ham United in 2017/18,
retained the Young Hammer of the Year award and was named Man of the Match
on his senior debut for the Boys in Green in Turkey in March. Before he
heads off on a well-earned holiday, Rice has joined up with Martin O'Neill's
squad for a mouth-watering trip to Paris to face France on Monday 28 May and
the visit of the United States to Dublin on Saturday 2 June. "It's a nice
way to finish off what has been an amazing season for me, personally," the
19-year-old centre-half confirmed. "If you'd told me a year ago that I'd
have achieved what I have achieved, I wouldn't have believed you! "I've
worked hard, listened to my coaches and teammates, tried to learn from my
experiences and mistakes, and I'm happy with what I've achieved so far, but
there is still lots more for me to learn and achieve in my career. I'm still
only young. "These two international games will be another step in my
development. I really enjoyed my Ireland debut and it's been good to meet up
with the boys again, as the atmosphere in the squad is really good. "These
games give us a chance to train together, get to know each other, try new
things and get ourselves ready for our next competitive matches."

Ireland missed out on this summer's FIFA World Cup final in Russia, losing
5-1 on aggregate to Denmark in a two-legged Play-Off, and will return to
competitive action in September, when they take on the same opposition, and
Wales, in the new UEFA Nations League.

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STICK OR TWIST: THE FULL BACKS
By Iain Dale 27 May 2018 at 15:01
WTID

Players who play at full back are often underrated. But they can make or
break a team. A good full back who can get forward and bang in the crosses,
but doesn't neglect their defensive duties can be worth a lot of money. At
the moment we're possibly a little unbalanced to the left. It was said that
David Moyes couldn't understand the players' determination to play
everything down the left hand side, to the exclusion of the right. That's
probably because on the left we have two full backs who can bomb down the
left, deploy a little bit of trickery, whereas on the right we have the ever
dependable Pablo Zabaletta, who at 33 is not going to rip up any daisies.

Aaron Cresswell
We bought Aaron Cresswell for a mere £3.5 million from Ipswich in 2014.
Since then he has played 137 games and scored 5 goals. His first season was
perhaps his best, but even when he has patchy form you know it's not going
to be long before he bounces back. Latterly under Moyes he played on the
left hand side of a defensive three, leaving Arthur Masuaku to bomb forward.
He hasn't got the trickery of Masuaku but has pace and a lethal free kick on
his day. Some of his crossing can be sublime. There have been rumours that
he will be one of the players to leave in the summer. This would be utter
madness, unless someone put in a ridiculous offer of £30 million or so. He's
29 in December, though. He's very versatile and every team needs a player
like that. He may not have developed a lot in the last two years – his
absence from the England World Cup squad is a sign of that – but
nevertheless I'd hate to see him go.

Arthur Masuaku
A £5 million signing from Olympiacos in Greece in 2016 Masuaku took his time
to bed in. Some would say he still hasn't. He vied with Cresswell for the
left ack place in a 4-4-2, and did displace him for a few games. However, he
only really came into his own this season when Moyes started playing a 3-5-2
formation. He started to play as a wing back and took to the position well.
He has great pace and can beat anyone. His crosses were devoured by
Arnautovic and the two developed a great understanding until the moment of
madness which led to him getting a six match ban. It then took time to
rediscover his form, but by the end of the season he was again showing us
what he can do. This season will be a crunch one for him. We must keep him.
Even though he's played forty times and yet to register on the scoresheet.

Pablo Zabaleta
Zabaleta is Mr Consistency. Mistakes are rare, flamboyance ever more rare,
but you couldn't find a more dependable right back. He was tested towards
the end of the season when he was expected to play as a wing back, but he
certainly didn't let anyone down. He'll turn 34 in January and assuming he
stays, this must surely be his last season playing at the top level. If our
transfer budget is somewhat limited, I wouldn't waste too much money on a
replacement unless someone amaing becomes free at a reasonable price. At
least Manuel Pellegrini knows what he's getting.

Sam Byram
Am I alone in thinking Sam Byram is being treated very unfairly? Whenever
he's played, he's never let us down. Indeed, I'd say he has often impressed.
The trouble is he has never been given a run of games. He's played a game
here, a game there, but then would get injured. In two and a half seasons
he's only played 27 games. We payed £5 ,illion for Byram. If we're to let
him to to free up funds, we'd need to look at getting £7-9 million I'd have
thought. But if we sell him we'd need a replacement, as I don't see any
obvious replacement in the Under 23s.

Conclusion
It seems that Byram may be the most likely player to be sold. I think a lot
depends on which formation Pellegrini plays. If it's a wing back system,
then Antonio and Zabaleta may have to compete for a place. I don't see
Cresswell's long term future being in a back three so it may be that he is
sacrificed in order to have the funds to buy a top class central defender.

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A secret agreement & seven months of work - How Manuel Pellegrini became
West Ham's new manager
Things seemingly moved quickly from the outside when the 64-year-old was
appointed but really, it was a long-term project to get him to the capital
Football London
By Sam Inkersole West Ham Correspondent
11:23, 27 MAY 2018

It was an appointment nearly seven months in the making. Manuel Pellegrini
let it slip in his first on-camera interview with West Ham, probably
unintentionally, that he had watched a lot of Hammers matches last season
while manager of Hebei China Fortune in the Chinese Super League. There is a
reason for that.
Slaven Bilic was sacked as West Ham manager on November 6 after Karren Brady
arrived at the Rush Green training ground, two days after the 4-1 defeat to
Liverpool at the London Stadium to deliver the news we all knew was coming.
What we didn't know was that very soon after, the wheels were already in
motion to bring former Manchester City manager Pellegrini to east London.
Back in October 2017, Croatian Bilic was clinging to his job in the capital.
The 3-2 win against Spurs in the Carabao Cup bought Bilic some time but it
was not going to be enough. He was eventually dismissed with the Hammers in
the Premier League relegation zone after a dismal start to the season.
Pellegrini engaged in talks with West Ham in the immediate aftermath of
Bilic's sacking to return to the Premier League and to take the reigns in
east London. Numerous telephone and email conversations were exchanged but
Pellegrini didn't meet with West Ham at that time. Before 2017 was out
though, the two parties had met, talks progressed and Pellegrini and the
club had a handshake plus a gentleman's agreement that it would be him that
would eventually take over in east London.
The new manager had already discussed transfer targets, his backroom staff
joining him in the capital and the transfer budget with the club. That is
expected to be fulfilled this summer. Enter David Moyes. The Scotsman was
employed with the sole task of keeping West Ham in the Premier League,
essentially warming the seat until Pellegrini arrived. Moyes was never going
to spend more than half a year at the London Stadium. There was a reason he
was only given a six-month deal. Moyes was always a stop gap between Bilic
and Pellegrini.
The former Sunderland boss held up his end of the bargain and steered West
Ham to a 13th place finish in the Premier League and while he may not have
known it, he wasn't going to be sticking around after May 2018. He was
handed £2.5m for his six months employment in east London. Not bad work if
you can get it.
That also explains why Moyes was somewhat undermined at the end of his
tenure when pictures emerged of Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca
arriving at Hammers co-owner David Sullivan's Essex mansion to have "talks"
with the top brass. Those talks were never going to amount to anything, as
proved by Fonseca signing an extended contract in Donetsk - it was a
smokescreen.
The same applies to Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez. It was all a
ruse. Stories emerged that the Spaniard was proving hard to lure away from
Tyneside but he was never likely to take over thanks to the agreement with
Pellegrini. Pellegrini had said to West Ham back in 2017 that there was no
chance of him leaving the Far East and his incredibly lucrative contract
when he was first approached to take over at the London Stadium. Give it six
months however then a severance deal could be done. Six months later, that's
how it has turned out.
Pellegrini announced his departure from Hebei China Fortune on May 19 after
their 2-1 victory over Chonqing Lifang in the CSL and as quick as a flash,
the 64-year-old was on a flight to London. Before his flight had landed in
the UK, Pellegrini's £8m-per-year contract was officially agreed to take
over West Ham. The manager and co-chairman had a pleasant time in central
London that evening following touchdown for the Chilean, before returning to
Sullivan's home. That was nothing but a formality, the club photographer had
already arrived to capture the moment and contracts were signed that
evening. Pellegrini was announced as West Ham's new manager at 8am on
Tuesday morning. The new manager has spoken of his excitement and the
project in store for him in east London in his first words as West Ham's
17th manager. In reality, that project began way back in November 2017. West
Ham have got their man. It was a process that started some time ago and was
the long-term plan for the club after a torrid 18 months at the London
Stadium that led to Bilic's sacking. Now, we wait and see what the future
holds.

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Declan Rice issues response to David Gold's comments about West Ham ace
representing England
Rice is set to feature for Ireland against France on Monday evening
Football London
By Rob Guest
09:25, 27 MAY 2018

West Ham youngster Declan Rice has stated that he is just concentrating on
playing well for Ireland after David Gold's comments about him playing for
England in the future. Having made his debut for the Hammers at Burnley on
the final day of the 2016/17 season, the 19-year-old cemented his place in
the West Ham team under David Moyes towards the end of the campaign. The
youngster's form saw Martin O'Neill call him up to the Ireland senior side,
thus making his international debut against Turkey in March in the process.
However, with the Hammers appointing Manuel Pellegrini as Moyes' replacement
during the week, Gold told talkSPORT that he hoped the Chilean could turn
Rice into an England international. With the player made well aware of the
co-owner's comments, he issued a response as he prepares for Monday's
friendly against France. Rice, speaking to the Irish Independent, said:
"Yeah, it was all over Twitter. He's just come out and said it on the radio.
That's what he believes. "I'm here today with the Ireland national squad
focusing on the two games to prove myself to Martin [O'Neill] and Roy that I
can play well for Ireland. "My phone got bombarded with messages saying
'have you seen this?' He's done an interview on transfers and it was way
off-topic to come out and say 'Declan Rice for England' when I'm here with
Ireland. "He knows that I play for Ireland so it's one of them where I just
forget about it. "I've come here to enjoy myself."
Rice will come up against some of the world's best players tomorrow evening
with Ireland taking on France as Didier Deschamps' side prepare for the
World Cup.
Amid talk of a loan move at the start of the season to gain some valuable
experience, the defender has thanked Slaven Bilic for giving him a chance in
the first team as a memorable year draws to a close. "There's some massive
names there," added Rice. "I played against [Olivier] Giroud and [Paul]
Pogba. But then you've [Antoine] Griezmann and [Kylian] Mbappe. "These are
the players you come up against if you want to be the best in the world.
"You've got to test yourself against the best to know you are the best. "At
the beginning of the season I was talking about going on loan to a League
One or Championship club and then I had a good pre-season and, all of a
sudden, Slaven Bilic gave me my chance and I was with the first team. "I was
grateful for the opportunity. "I was playing well which obviously granted me
my first-team place here. "Martin thought I was playing well and couldn't
leave me out because I was playing so well. I was with the 21s as well. "I
can't really believe how quick I've progressed."

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