Sunday 14 March 2010

The Players Are Over-Rated, The Expectations Unrealistic, Zola Deserves Support



The following article has been submitted.

Gianfranco Zola came in for a lot of criticism after the Chelsea loss. Though he has made errors in his time in charge, we should expect this from a manager who is learning his trade in difficult circumstances. Certainly, I think some of our fans would do better in pointing the finger at the decision making and execution of individual players rather than the coaching staff. The coaching staff is ours too, and sometimes we need to support them like we do the players….sometimes instead of the players, even.

Whilst we must be ambitious, we should temper our criticism with realism. The fact that Zola is a nice guy just makes it easier for us to criticise him. Some of the emotional outbursts after the Chelsea game were well out of order. Many are blaming him for not addressing the obvious threat down Chelsea’s left. If it was obvious, as was suggested, then Zola and Clarke, who have been in football longer than most of us, would have noticed and instructed the players to do something about it. If a player doesn’t do so, then there is not much the manager can do….a horse to water saying comes to mind. Zola knew the threat the Chelsea midfield posed which is why he went with a 4-5-1 and not a 4-3-3 as suggested.

Something else that I would like to question is whether our players are really as good as we think they are, and hence, is being the 16th best team in England the most we should expect? Are Upson, Green and Behrami really that good? Compare them to the players of our rivals; is green better than Jaaskelainen? How many serious errors do you see Jaaskelainen make? Is Upson better than Hangeland? Upson’s every performance is littered with mistakes. Is Behrami better than Bullard? Behrami can’t even shoot well or put a straight through-ball into the path of his team-mate. If the answer to the above questions is no, then we deserve to be where we are so let's not expect anything more. Our rival teams are filled with players that are better than ours, even if their names don't suggest it. Now I’m not being critical of our players themselves - as I don’t like doing this - just critical of the views that over-rate them.

Gianfranco Zola clearly has a lot to learn. I think we should give him a bit longer to do so at our club or we could end up with the likes of Alan Curbishley. Do we honestly believe we can attract managers like Mark Hughes? I would be very surprised if he came to us having left one of the richest clubs in the world.

There are two basic ways to improve a team; buy ready made players, or develop the ones you have. Our situation means that we have to do the second, which is the more time-consuming and difficult one to do. The fact that I believe our players are over-rated, does not help. We have to accept that we have a herd of pigs and a manager armed with just lipstick. Though he’s trying his best to slap it on, they’re still pigs I’m afraid.

Stani.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

What the hell! Now you are supporting Zola, god make up your mind.

Hammersfan said...

It was obvious Stani because I predicted how the second Chelsea goal would be scored. Why was Ilan picked on the right of midfield exactly? He isn't a midfield player is he? At half time, Zola had the opportunity to make a change. He didn't. He must carry the can for that I'm afraid, just as he must carry the can for the initial selection.

Manager wise, we could have had Coyle who is clearly better at organising and motivating a team, or Pardew.

Interesting point about the strength of the teams around us. What would a "best of" team drawn from the bottom 6 look like I wonder?

Hammersfan said...

1759, can you not read? It clearly states that the article was submitted and identifies Stani as the author. I am happy to host the opinions of others, even when I disagree.

Anonymous said...

He's not completely wrong, the individual skill levels are pathetic. How many times was the ball turned over to Chelsea in the middle third of the pitch? I lost count. Basic skills like putting a pass in front of a man and moving to space are sadly lacking.

Anonymous said...

oops my bad

Deane said...

I started a facebook group called "get Pardew back" about 10 mins ago will let you know what the membership is like after a week

Anonymous said...

Thought-provoking article Stani, nice one for posting it HF.

I am as fed up with Zola as most people are, just be careful though what you wish for. If he does go before the end of the season, we have a far greater chance of relegation.

The season we went down, we had a better team than we do now (G Breen excluded), and with Roeder in charge we were abysmal all season.

What is so worrying to me now is, just like that awful season, our best players are simply not performing as they should. Stani, on paper they are better than the other teams around us surely. They are just playing crap.

That may or may not be the manager's fault.

HF I don't particularly agree that players are unable to play well when asked to play slightly out of their preferred position.

They should be pretty much able to perform adequately, virtually anywhere on the pitch.

What worries me the most though is Zola's team selection recently, especially for Chelsea.

And I am not talking about where he asked players to play, I am talking about team selection. Ilan?

That was indeed clueless, and we paid the price.

JC

Hammersfan said...

Apologies to those whose comments were inadvertently deleted. Glitch in system.

Hammersfan said...

What the hell! Now you are supporting Zola, god make up your mind.

14 March 2010 17:59

Hammersfan said...
It was obvious Stani because I predicted how the second Chelsea goal would be scored. Why was Ilan picked on the right of midfield exactly? He isn't a midfield player is he? At half time, Zola had the opportunity to make a change. He didn't. He must carry the can for that I'm afraid, just as he must carry the can for the initial selection.

Manager wise, we could have had Coyle who is clearly better at organising and motivating a team, or Pardew.

Interesting point about the strength of the teams around us. What would a "best of" team drawn from the bottom 6 look like I wonder?

14 March 2010 18:00

Hammersfan said...
1759, can you not read? It clearly states that the article was submitted and identifies Stani as the author. I am happy to host the opinions of others, even when I disagree.

14 March 2010 18:02

Anonymous said...
He's not completely wrong, the individual skill levels are pathetic. How many times was the ball turned over to Chelsea in the middle third of the pitch? I lost count. Basic skills like putting a pass in front of a man and moving to space are sadly lacking.

14 March 2010 18:40

Anonymous said...
oops my bad

14 March 2010 18:51

Deane said...
I started a facebook group called "get Pardew back" about 10 mins ago will let you know what the membership is like after a week

14 March 2010 19:42

Anonymous said...
Thought-provoking article Stani, nice one for posting it HF.

I am as fed up with Zola as most people are, just be careful though what you wish for. If he does go before the end of the season, we have a far greater chance of relegation.

The season we went down, we had a better team than we do now (G Breen excluded), and with Roeder in charge we were abysmal all season.

What is so worrying to me now is, just like that awful season, our best players are simply not performing as they should. Stani, on paper they are better than the other teams around us surely. They are just playing crap.

That may or may not be the manager's fault.

HF I don't particularly agree that players are unable to play well when asked to play slightly out of their preferred position.

They should be pretty much able to perform adequately, virtually anywhere on the pitch.

What worries me the most though is Zola's team selection recently, especially for Chelsea.

And I am not talking about where he asked players to play, I am talking about team selection. Ilan?

That was indeed clueless, and we paid the price.

JC

14 March 2010 21:16



14 March 2010 23:01

Hammersfan said...
Apologies to those whose comments were inadvertently deleted. Glitch in system.

14 March 2010 23:09

Anonymous said...

i seriously cannot believe my ears, the man who has been critizing Zola all season long and pissing off all the real fans who actually attend the games, is offering advice from his shitty little blog even though he gives match reports from behind his laptop instead of standing on the terraces and supporting the club every week, i find you deeply offensive and a complete leech who attachs yourself to our great club. you are a hypocrite and a complete embarresment to west ham.

T.I.S said...

Well said Stan, and I agree. Even my mother could tell you that Malouda was manhandling spector all day long and that Spector needed more support, perhaps a language barrier stood inbetween Clarke and Ilan, I don't know, none of us do. Personally I think we have a weakness each time we go out which is very easy to exploit:

Midfield not getting forward
Strikers not moving into channels
Midfield not supporting defence
Lack of closing down etc

I do believe we have 11 players that want to fight for the team, the problem being that it isn't a team, it's a collective of idividuals. It is very easy to criticise indeed, and perhaps we underestimate the problems our club has faced over the past few months/years. People do praise Hull but their fans would have been very frustrated by how we battered them at Upton Park and initially battered them at their place.

Anonymous said...

Where did all the other comments go?

Anonymous said...

where did all the other comments go?

Hammersfan said...

What the hell! Now you are supporting Zola, god make up your mind.

14 March 2010 17:59

Hammersfan said...
It was obvious Stani because I predicted how the second Chelsea goal would be scored. Why was Ilan picked on the right of midfield exactly? He isn't a midfield player is he? At half time, Zola had the opportunity to make a change. He didn't. He must carry the can for that I'm afraid, just as he must carry the can for the initial selection.

Manager wise, we could have had Coyle who is clearly better at organising and motivating a team, or Pardew.

Interesting point about the strength of the teams around us. What would a "best of" team drawn from the bottom 6 look like I wonder?

14 March 2010 18:00

Hammersfan said...
1759, can you not read? It clearly states that the article was submitted and identifies Stani as the author. I am happy to host the opinions of others, even when I disagree.

14 March 2010 18:02

Anonymous said...
He's not completely wrong, the individual skill levels are pathetic. How many times was the ball turned over to Chelsea in the middle third of the pitch? I lost count. Basic skills like putting a pass in front of a man and moving to space are sadly lacking.

14 March 2010 18:40

Anonymous said...
oops my bad

14 March 2010 18:51

Deane said...
I started a facebook group called "get Pardew back" about 10 mins ago will let you know what the membership is like after a week

14 March 2010 19:42

Anonymous said...
Thought-provoking article Stani, nice one for posting it HF.

I am as fed up with Zola as most people are, just be careful though what you wish for. If he does go before the end of the season, we have a far greater chance of relegation.

The season we went down, we had a better team than we do now (G Breen excluded), and with Roeder in charge we were abysmal all season.

What is so worrying to me now is, just like that awful season, our best players are simply not performing as they should. Stani, on paper they are better than the other teams around us surely. They are just playing crap.

That may or may not be the manager's fault.

HF I don't particularly agree that players are unable to play well when asked to play slightly out of their preferred position.

They should be pretty much able to perform adequately, virtually anywhere on the pitch.

What worries me the most though is Zola's team selection recently, especially for Chelsea.

And I am not talking about where he asked players to play, I am talking about team selection. Ilan?

That was indeed clueless, and we paid the price.

JC

14 March 2010 21:16

Anonymous said...
Beckham is fucked what a shame.

14 March 2010 23:01

Anonymous said...
Beckham is fucked what a shame.

14 March 2010 23:01

Anonymous said...
Beckham is fucked what a shame.

14 March 2010 23:01

Hammersfan said...
Apologies to those whose comments were inadvertently deleted. Glitch in system.

14 March 2010 23:09

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The club site is churning out this dross in a 'Parker praises fans interview', "... fell behind to Alex's 13th-minute header. Even then, Gianfranco Zola's side refused to buckle..."
We lost 4-1 didn't we? There must've been some buckling going on. Could open a belt business the amount of bloody buckles on the books

Rabelais said...

Cheers Stani and HF,
When we started this season with Ashton, Parker, Behrami, Upson, Dyer, Green (and Cole coming on leaps and bounds), I'd have been confident that we weren't looking at a desperate relegation battle this season. Comfortable mid-table but not European quality. Now we know that Ashton was never coming back; Dyer at times has looked likely to follow him into retirement and despite what looked like a decent spine to the team, we had no strength in depth.

The longer view: as a club you can't help but think that what we need more than anything else is a period of rational stability, with our minds set on realistic ambitions.

After the FA cup against Liverpool I thought the future looked promising. We weren't going to set the world on fire but we could become a decent premiership team under Pardew. Well, a mixture of sexual misdemeanours and apparently easy wealth that evaporated with the crash have put paid to that and we've been all over the place ever since.

West Ham have been poorly run for a long time. I don't think Zola is entirely to blame for our woes and one day he might be a decent manager, but not at West Ham. Given the club's recent history he is the wrong man at the wrong time, probably appointed because he was seen as a naive rooky, who would do as he was bid but with a good footballing record. Easy going but at least he gave the appearance that West Ham were serious. I suspect we're stuck with him until the end of the season. But there are big decisions ahead of us over the summer. Maybe a new manager and the need to begin building a new team (I suspect a lot of our current mercenaries will leave). We can only hope that Gold and Sullivan have sound judgement. We're going to need in the next few months if we're to avoid a repeat of this season next time. And that's providing we stay up, which if we do will only be because the other teams are so poor.

Stani Army said...

HF
I believe Zola has more potential and is more a West Ham type of manager than Coyle. There are managers of a different style who would play a different way using a different type of player, but how much are we willing to sacrifice? The thing that gives me most pleasure as a West Ham supporter is the way in West Ham teams of the past and present played the game. I would hate it, and be a right miserable sod if we turned into a Blackburn or Bolton. It would be unbearable.

As for the Chelsea selection; many of us, including you and me, were asking for Ilan to be given a go. Yes, he isn't a midfield player but a 5 man midfield which included a striker, gave us the option to do something up front when we went on the attack.

I do believe that Zola and Clarke tried to address the wing issue by putting Behrami on the right. It didn't work but it wasn't for the want of trying. Sometimes we just have to hold up our hands and say the guy (Malouda in this case) had a good game.

I think Cole (just back from knee injury) and Diamanti were rested. Why? I think we can all agree that we have a better chance of taking points off Arsenal than we do off Chelsea.

I would say that only Cole, Parker and Diamanti would probably get into that best of bottom six side.

Anonymous1840
Right, and we had 5 men in that midfield can you believe!? There is a lack of cohesiveness and trust amongst our players. Trust in the sense that one player would trust the other to make a run for a pass, or cover him when he's out of position. Behrami spoke of our mindset the other day.

Stani Army said...

JC
Yes, I'm grateful for HF for putting our views up and I think more people should challenge him, even if they're proved wrong. Certainly Dale wouldn't do this on his blog.

I think you are right that if Zola is sacked now, our chances of relegation would increase. I think Hull have blundered by getting rid of Brown right now. As for Zola, I would give him until January. He will have a whole summer to prepare and if there is no obvious improvements then we can move on.

Like you, I want to believe that our players are better than the players of the other teams. Certainly, on paper ours do seems so, but week-in week-out we see the mistakes and lack of footballing intelligence that should cause us to question whether they really are that good. Why has no one snapped up Tomkins like Smalling was from Fulham? Why has no big club put in an irrefusible offer for Behrami who Nani said would be one of the best midfielders in the Prem? Why is Capello hesitant to pick Parker? Why did City and Spurs feel there were better alternatives to Upson? Why did it take Green so long to be England's number one? And he only managed that because everyone else was either not performing or injured. Could Wenger or Benitez have relied upon Carlton Cole to convert that one chance in front of goal if they bought him? There are question marks on all of our big players. I hope they are just playing crap, as you said.

Please see my opinion to HF above in regards to the Chelsea team selection.

Anonymous said...
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Stani Army said...

T.I.S
Very good point about that weakness which is easy to exploit. I think it's that mindset that Behrami spoke about. We have no fight (as a team) in us. Your four points are exactly the symptoms of the 'trust' I spoke about above. This is very difficult to change in players.

Anonynous0800
Come on mate!? He annoys you because he's a decent and honourable man? You want to punch him because he smiles? Would it be better if he came out and rinsed the players in public?

Rabelais
I think that period of stability is exactly what we need. I believe we can get it with this management team but whether many of our fans, or Gold and Sullivan even, would settle for that, I don't know. I know we are aiming for the likes of Villa, Spurs and Everton, but we are a long way away from that.

Many did believe that when Zola was hired, it was because he was a yes man. I disagree. Far from being a yes man, he would have been one of the few who would have been willing to work under the circumstances our club was in. When Duxbury hired him, he knew this. It was just an indication of how bad a situation our club was in and what our level of expectations should be. The likes of Donadoni, Mancini and the other names linked would not have hung around had they been given the job. Zola does have potential and I think it would be a loss to us if it is not realised at our club. Yes he has lots to learn but why not let him do it here so we can receive the benefits? Are we that high and mighty that we can do better? Where are we going so fast as a club that Zola and Clarke are not good enough to keep up with us?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The players the club have are more than capable of taking us too a top 10 finish, there good players and if they all gave there absolute all and were all at there best we would be nowhere near down there! I do believe zola could turn out too be a good coach and has different qualities too offer the team but i think he probably should go at the end of the season. He doesnt seem too be able tooo get the team up for big games. I do like the way he believes too play football its our way the west ham way but its points we need now so i would be willing too play crap football and be gritty if it keeps us up!

Anonymous said...

I cannot understand why Carlton Cole and Alessandro Diamanti were left on the bench for long periods. Didn't Zola know that Chelsea were playing with an unexperienced keeper? Had Diamanti been sent on before, he would have surely troubled Turnball with his long powerful shots. I still cannot understand!

T.I.S said...

What really grinds my gears is the way our players are now talking about their England chances. They would be better off talking about their West Ham chances surely? ok maybe not.