An argument has been raging on here as to whether Zola is to blame for our terrible performances or if it is down to rank bad players. I have pointed the finger at Zola, but Stani has led the case for the Italian, pointing the finger at a lousy squad of players instead. The challenge, therefore, is to pick a "World Cup 23" from the squads of the teams at the bottom.
I've given it a go, and this is what I've come up with:
GK: Jaaskelainnen (Bolton), Green (West Ham), James (Portsmouth)
CB Upson (West Ham), Cahill (Bolton) Turner (Sunderland) Hangelaand (Fulham)
FB Figueroa (Wigan) Ilunga (West Ham) Nelson (Blackburn) Ridgewell (Birmingham)
Midfield: Eagles (Burnley) Parker (West Ham) Duff (Fulham) Murphy (Fulham) Henderson (Sunderland) Bullard (Hull City) Dunn (Blackburn) Etherington (Stoke)
Forwards: Cole (West Ham), Davies (Bolton), Zamora (Fulham), Bent (Sunderland)
Now I accept cases can be made for others. There will be support for Robinson (Blackburn) and Hart (Birmingham) for the keeper's position. At full back, Konchesky might have a claim. At centre half, Shawcross (Soke) and Dann (Birminham) would be in the running. In midfield, Diamanti, Behrami, Jarvis (Wolves), Hunt (twice relegated!) (Hull), Gera (Fulham), O'Hara (Portsmouth) and Cattermole (Sunderland) all have claims, and up front, a case can be made for Jones (Sunderland) and Doyle (Wolves).
However, argue the toss as you will, Green, Ilunga, Cole, Parker, Upson, Diamanti and Behrami would all be there or there abouts, and, on form, Noble would have a chance. No other team would conribute that many. Look at our squad and the squad of players at Blackburn, Stoke, Birmingham, Wolves and Wigan and you surely have to say that Zola has underperformed with the pool of players available to him.
Have I forgotten anybody? What's your view?
10 comments:
I went to the testimonial game in the week and Zola got one of the biggest cheers of the night - I reckon he's staying on....
Typical! Thats west ham fans for you. As soon as they enter the ground its all we love zola again!
I said it before, its the fans that our to blame for our demise. Relegation next season is a real possibility if zola stays.
...hold on a minute, wasn't it supposed to be the bottom 13? :)
See HF, I told you we had a squad full of junk. Will do mine later on, a bit tied up at the moment.
You're having a laugh HF or you're just inviting site traffic.
Green - good shot stopper at times, absolutely useless at kicking, marshalling his defence and commanding his own area. very good at blaming others.
Ilunga - hasn't played much this season. Had a great first season but has fallen away badly this season. Very good at handball. (HANDBALL!)
Upson - where can I start here? a terrible season is a good summary. Hasn't jumped this season due to lead weight, or his wallet, in his boots, hasn't led the team as a captain should do, hasn't helped the youngsters at all - remember how he just glared at Tomkins for a couple of his bad mistakes? As captain, he should have been geeing Tomkins up and encouraging him to do keep it simple etc and take some pressure off the lad. Upson has had the world cup on his mind - he deserves to miss out.
Cole - first touch is appalling, can't head, can't jump.... even though it looks like he has five legs at times as he stumbles around. Can't hold the ball up and opposition attacks regularly stem from Cole.
I love zola hope he stays
The thing is, 19.51, Green, Upson and Cole have all been regulars in the England squad this season, so they can't be bad players, they've just looked bad in a West Ham shirt. Green is, at worst, Capello's third choice keeper and Upson has been his third choice centre half for 2 seasons now. Cole has netted 10 goals in the Prem in 25 starts, that's a goal every 2.5 games, even playing for a team that's finished on a miserable 34 points. Name me a better left back than Ilunga, other than those I've mentioned.
I agree that all the team have looked crap under Zola but that's my point. The manager is making the players look useless, not the players making the manager look useless. The team is weaker than the sum of its parts, whereas Wigan, Blackburn, Birmingham and Fulham are all much stronger than the sum of their parts. Why? That's the difference a manager makes. Your point about Upson's captaincy is spot on. Well who made him captain and left him in the job? Er, that would be Zola!
I meant Stoke, not Wigan!
HF: "I agree that all the team have looked crap under Zola but that's my point...."
You've been making this point now for, erm quite some time now, when can we expect a new point?
When the manager changes or they stop looking crap perhaps? Do you know, they do weather bulletins for Palm Springs every day? I've seen them! The high today will be 36 with a zero possibility of precipitation. Every day, day after day, then, one day it rains! Then they say, there is a chance of rain today!
17°C | °F
Current: Partly Cloudy
Wind: N at 5 mph
Humidity: 38%
Palm Springs weather today
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