Before he joined Miserableborough, Alves was very highly regarded. Full time chef and part time talent scout Dutch (cooking the books for Ajax no less)told everybody on the Mordant Org that the guy was worth checking out and berated Turds and the board when we failed to sign him. Initially he looked good too. Remember that goal against the Mancs?
Confidence is a funny thing and most strikers suffer a dip which sometimes deepens into a trough. Very few, however, fail to rise again, as the proverbial phoenix out of the flames of a personal hell. Now Alves has everything a striker needs to succeed - strength, pace, ability on the ball, and an eye for goal. OK, Southgate fitted a patch over that eye but I reckon Zola could readjust his vision in a few training sessions. If he can get Carlton putting the round thing into the funny looking fishing nets, then surely he can work the oracle on a player who, before losing his way in the smog of Middlesborough, could hit the back of the net with his eyes closed and wearing a blindfold. Remember, at his previous club, Alves hit 45 goals in 39 games. Before that he netted 29 in 55 appearances for Malmo and 23 in 39 games for Orgryte. "For who?" I hear you ask, "so what?" Well, you might not be aware but Alves has been capped eight times at full international level by...Brazil!
He would, of course, be a gamble but he isn't going to command a massive fee and Boro will be desperate to offload him to save on their wage bill. They paid, what £11.5m? If we could pick him up for £4m, I would see that as a risk worth taking!
Alves or Zaki? Who would you go for or do you have a better suggestion? One thing's for sure, either would be an improvement on both Tristan and Di Michele!
21 comments:
I wonder how much he would cost in wages. His record was good, in a much lower grade of football. If we could pick him up on the cheap and it was a straight choice of Alves or DiMichele - I'd punt on Alves any day.
I think Dutch is a reasonable judge Den and he was plugging Alves hard. I accept it would be a risk but I don't think we will be buying big. There won't be much cash left after splashing £22m on Tevez will there? ; }
Hammersfan personally I would rather sign a striker who doesnt need that much work. I have recommended Marcus Berg from FC Groningen. He is young, and has pace and power and a superb goal scoring record. He has managed 53 goals in 106 career games. Coming from the Dutch league would be a plus as well as it is the closest to the Premiership in terms of pace and physicality.
I have no doubt that Alves has the tools for the job but having half the forward line attending "Striking 101" and the other half on the treatment table would make me worried abuot or ability to build on a solid defence with a genuine goal scoring threat next season.
Yes saw your comment about Berg before. Know nothing about him personally.
I think Zola should try to get Bojan from Barcelona. Could probably get him on loan for a season.
I think he would be great under Zola, seen him in Sweden since he was a kid basically, a rare talent, would fit good into our style of play. Definately capable a MUCH more than he has shown in he PL so far
What makes you say Dutch is a good judge?
If you were enemy number one on The Org for your negativity, he was a close second so that's affecting your judgement.
Dutch was over the moon when we signed Savio and berated me for suggesting that we should have got someone with a bit of Prem experience as cover this season.
I don't know anything about foreign football, so I have no idea whether Alves would be any good, but we have a couple of big men in Cole and Ashton.
What I'd prefer is a 'second striker' character, or an attacking midfielder, that would be much more potent.
Look at the goal stats for the last couple of seasons, I bet you'll find that attackers goals have gone down and midfielders goals have gone up. Ronaldo may imbalance that argument, but we need a midfielder that can attack so the forwards that we have don't have to worry about linking play.
That means losing Noble or Parker Apache mate. Dutch called the guy who is playing up front for Holland now before I knew about him. Huntelaar. Also was big fan of Arse Shavings.
I don't know much about European football either and so can't really comment on Dutch's credibility on that front but Zola has proved he can bring the best out of players e.g. Cole who is, let's be honest, still a relativley mediocre player. So I think we should take a punt on Alves if we could get him at the £4m mark or maybe even offer Boa Morte in a swap + cash (although I admit he's come on a lot in the last month - more credit to Zola if you ask me!).
I also agree that we could do with a much more attacking/flair presence in midfield than we currently have. Collison I think is shaping up to be an amazing player and we should resist any attempt to sell him but he still won't ever have the flair we had in Benayoun.At the end of the day, I think Noble & Parker are too much the same player and we'll have to let one of them go. If Man City are prepared to pay up to £15m for Parker I say we have to take it on the chin, let him go & spend the money wisely. Noble will come good!
HotRod
Agree about Parker mate, not least because he is so injury prone! Maybe we need 5 man midfield, Savio and A N Other bursting beyond the front man, Noble, Collison and Behrami in midfield three behind?
Just my thinking Hammers - I omitted Parker's injury record from my post but like Bellamy a great reason not to worry if we do decide to sell him.
I'd be pretty excited to see that 5 man midfield behind Cole & Ashton and if Lucas Buglia turns out to be our 5th man we could be loooking pretty decent!
HotRod
I know nothing about him. Sounds like a royal poisoner to me!
No me either actually but what I've read sounds promising, could be the next Tevez or Messi!
Maybe Dutch could give us a heads up?
HotRod
Biglia looks a very good player, similar to Torres in my eyes, knowing West Hams competitiveness in the market it should only taking us a shortage of funds not to get this guy.
Biglia plays in a league weaker than the SPL. Yes the SPL, which makes Kris Boyd look like Gerd Muller. And Alves goes MIA for months on end, even when not injured.
0337 Alan Devonshire played in a league weaker than the old Fourth Division before we signed him. So did Chris Waddle before Newcastle signed him. Tim Cahill started off in Australia and with Millwall, look at him now. Not sure about the overall quality and competitiveness of the Russian league but Arse Shavings looks tasty. Sometimes you have to pan for gold!
I think it is a shame that West Ham fans have accepted that we have to rummage around the bargain basement of the transfer market. Am I alone in thinking we must be in a fairly positive financial state after all the players we have sold and increased Sky money? I want us to go for a £20+m striker like Tevez. We don't have to pay that all in one go so why not? Alves might have been good in Holland and Brazil but he has been rubbish whenever I've seen him. But then I find any comments on players to be pointless. Zola can't hear you!
Billbanksy
Devonshire was one of those one in a million players. I'm not saying Biglia isn't a decent player just that assuming he is based on performances in a very weak league is, at the very least, wishful thinking.
Reports suggest 'a host' of PL clubs are watching Biglia which doesn't, in my humble opinion, suggest much panning is required.
I think the best player at Middlesborough to suit West ham, would be Tuncay. Watched him on the TV monday, and he looked a good atacking midfielder - with skill. Something we need.
Yeah 1333, I like Tuncay. Makes you wonder about Southgate. Wheater, Tuncay, Alves, Downing and Bates all look qulaity players to me so why are Boro in so much trouble?
Tuncay doesn't score enough, Alves lacks motivation and possibly passion, Wheater has been woeful in Boro's current run and Downing is waiting for his big transfer.
Bates does look solid and dependable though. Pick of the bunch, imo.
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