Wednesday 27 May 2009

The Way Forward - Teamwork and Organisation is Not Enough



Debate has raged over whether or not Scott Parker was the right choice for Hammer of the Year. Whether you are in the Parker camp or not, most would agree that there were a number of players with claims as good, almost as good, or slightly better. Green has his supporters as do Ilunga, Upson, Neill, Behrami and Cole. That is 7 of the first choice 11. Add in Collison as a nailed on cert for young Hammer and you have 8 of the first team who deserve a Player of the Year Award. Have there ever been so many worthy of the award?

What does this tell us? Well, basically, we were a team without superstars last season, but a star team despite this. Our success was not based on world class ability on the pitch but first class organisation of our playing resources. The genuine stars, Ashton and Dyer, barely made it onto the pitch.

Enormous credit is due here to Steve Clarke. He really has drilled the team superbly, getting them to play as a unit. However, the paucity of goals and the vulnerable under belly of a thin squad (exposed so cruelly by Liverpool and Everton) indicate the dangers of this policy. With confidence high, the team clicked as a unit, but should the fixture schedule give us, for example Man Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham as our first three games of next season, then just as with Pardew's team, our confidence could be holed beneath the waterline by a poor start and, without true match winning stars, we may then lack the inspiration to turn things around.

The truth is, we are a good team which, as a unit, is better than the sum of its parts. Di Michele, Tristan, Kovac and Boa-Morte in the same team? We will hopefully look back in years to come and shake our heads at the thought of it. That subs bench in recent weeks? It is frightening to think too long about it! Yes it is great to have the kids coming through but we are in danger of hurting their long term development by expecting too much of them too early.

Now Nani really does have to earn his corn. He has been praised for his signings but, in truth, only two of them - Behrami and Ilunga - have been proven successes so far. What about Lopez, Lastpickeva, Kovac, Di Michele, Tristan and the kids who seem to be developing at a slower rate than our own home grown talent? If 'Arry had signed that lot, the fans would not be terming it a brilliant transfer policy but an A1 cock up. And, of course, the jury is very much out on young Savio. He may be a wonderkid but did we need a wonderkid in January, or did we need a ready made replacement for Bellyache?

This is going to be a very interesting close season. What will be the strategy? Dare we cash in on either Parker or Upson? What will we do with Ashton? What about maintaining the English contingent in the side? Are we going to muddle through with loan signings of dubious quality again or are we going to invest in the future? This is a pivotal time for us. We finished in mid table again, just one place and two points better off than under Curbishley. We actually scored less goals under Zola than under Turds. Not many of the teams above us will do worse next season - Fulham perhaps - but a few beneath us will be looking to progress - Man City, Sunderland and Blackburn. We urgently need to strengthen to move forward; hoping that Dyer and Ashton will be rebuilt is not a sensible policy.

The teamwork and organisation were great this year but that can only take you so far. There may be no i in team, but there is in Winners and Champions. Now we need inspiration if we are to push to the next level. Who is going to provide it?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just drinking a glass of Pepsi.It great.

daniel said...

more crappyness in what u r writing as usuall can u not jus shut ur blog down none seems to like and i am not surprised go fys u mf prik

Anonymous said...

I said it before and I'll say it again: Hammersfan - one utterly deluded individual with an over-inflated self-image and sense of importance. The drivel spouted on here is a prime example of what happens when you withdraw yourself from actual social interaction. If he wasn't giving all genuine West Ham supports such a bad name and image he would be laughable. As it stands though, he's merely cringe worthy.

Turn off the PC and do something more interesting instead.

John V P said...

Football is all about opinions and I find your articles interesting,well written and thought provoking.I don't always agree with them but invariably enjoy them.Please ignore the one eyed bigots who in many cases can neither spell nor string a sentence together.I'm new to the site but detect some "history" going on?
As a matter of fact I also disagree with Parker as HOTY.
When he played,he at last showed his talent but his contribution over the season was nothing like that of Upson, Green or Illunga(who got my vote)
I have a season ticket in the Rio stand and last year was threatened by a co-supporter because I showed my appreciation of Joe Cole after Chelsea mullered us.
As I said "Its all about opinions"

Keep up the good work.

supernumbersix said...

John VP - Couldn't agree more. I enjoy this site because of HF's articles and because of the healthy debate that he encourages.
Unfortunately, you sometimes have to wade through the dross posted by the narrow browed - three good examples on here - to get to that debate. I'm not sure which part of 'IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT ON HERE YOU MORON, DON'T KEEP COMING BACK' they don't understand (even in big writing) but what can you do?

Personally I thought when Parker played, he played like a demon. But I think HOTY should go to a player who has played most of the campaign, which is why I voted for Illunga, for his consistency and skill and the fact that he settled into it so quickly.

HF - Excellent point about us being a 'star team'. Imagine what we'd be like if we could just land a superstar. Or if one of the two you mention stay fit for more than two games.
Probably your best article yet.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hammersfan said...

Anonymous said:

i disagree. hammersfan you are a total james hunt.

Edited to remove the c word.

Thanks for proving the two supporters right! You can't even use capital letters and cannot write a sentence without using an obscene word. Do you think ANYBODY cares what you think?

Hammersfan said...

Daniel, your spelling is truly awful. If you are adding a suffix to a word ending in y, you generally replace the y with an i. Crappiness is not a word, but if it was, it would be spelt with an i not a y. Usual only has one L. Go back to school, or pay attention if you are still on roll!

Anonymous said...

Papp

supernumbersix said...

HF - Is this (Anon 16.00) one or more of your 'friends' from WHF.org home from school and messing about??

Hammersfan said...

LOL I think so mate. They have nothing better to do with their time. I suppose the best policy is to ignore them but that is difficult when they display illiteracy - all my instincts are to correct spelling and basic punctuation errors!

Anonymous said...

OBVIOUSLY they have nothing better to do that's why they're here

Hammersfan said...

Like you!

supernumbersix said...

They just set themselves up for it. It's like a 'turkey shoot' on here sometimes.

Seeker of truth and Justice said...

No they are not home from school they are on holiday. Ask Hammersfan about the school holidays as you will notice the volume of posts he puts in when he is on holiday!!

Hammersfan said...

LOL Yes my holidays do sometimes coincide with my children's holidays! What a freaky parent! Unlike so many, I stick around to love and provide for my children. Sorry!

Denbighammer said...

I've got to say I agree with most of what you've said. I still don't think we've replaced Yossi Benayoun as a creative midfielder. I don't think we can expect to attract truly world-class players but we desperatly need a creative force in midfield, even if its a great player on his way down. Nani needs to unearth us a gem from some backwater somewhere. Watching Xavi and Iniesta tonight shows how easy the game can be with players who are comfortable on the ball and play the right pass at the right time (Michael Carrick take note!). I think we should be fine next season but we need a creator and a good striker AND an experienced backup forward to bolster us going forward. Flair is a must but lets give Savio a go. Its a massive step up for a young lad from Uganda to go from Serie B to Premiership, especially mid-season. A good pre-season will help the lad and I think he could really fly with a decent start to the season. N.B. Fanno, I'm interested to know who you think potential targets might be?

Hammersfan said...

Den I was hoping you might have a few ideas! I have offered Zaki and Alves for up front as you know. Midfield? God knows! I had never heard of Benayoun when we signed him; hopefully Nani has somebody similar up his sleeve!

Denbighammer said...

Zaki's recent form (or lack of) and attitude towards Wigan sounds VERY LOUD alarm bells for me. I thought he was good after the first few months of the season and I don't see any reason why, if he treats Wigan like he did he would do any different to us? Alves is worth a punt for me, he does know where the goal is but seems a little fragile in the confidence department. I could see him playing off Cole and doing a job while we wait for Deano to get fit. The creative player is more of a worry, although Savio and Collison might be able to grow into the role? If we could save in that area and 'promote from within', we should go all out for a decent striker. Alves (maybe), plus one star?

Hammersfan said...

Fingers crossed. It's easy on Championship Manager; sadly in the real world most of the wish list players these days prefer squad status with a big team rather than a starring role with ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Yes you are such a great parent spending your whole life in front of a computer. I suppose the plus for them is that while you are sat penning your poison on here it stops you poisoning them.

Hammersfan said...

LOL Very good mate. Belive you me, I would rather be in our house in Sardinia at the moment but we are at home because of GCSE exams. Revision - and Dad has a History degree so is a talking textbook this week. (When not down the pub watching footy and checking out repossession properties to make a fast buck on the back of the misfortune of others. Recession? Only for some!)