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Pelle's Deconstructed Squad

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 08/09/2019 - 16:26

The International break is always difficult for journalists who cover the domestic game, tittle tattle and rumours are all there is to go on, slim pickings indeed. The fact that England are in the opposite to the ‘group of death’ makes the situation of even less interest to the cognoscenti.
We have already dealt with the ITV ‘acid heads’ and their weird observations of Declan Rice, fortunately he is thick skinned and won’t let a couple of has been’s put him off his game. Hammers other players on International duty have so far managed to avoid injury, it is to be hoped by the time they all return that they are able to hit the ground running against newly promoted Aston Villa, fortunately the match is played on a Monday night giving the squad that extra couple of days recovery time.

There has been a bit of a media frenzy regarding the strength or lack of strength of the squad Manuel Pellegrini has assembled for this season. It is not actually the squad he has assembled, more like the squad he has disassembled.So much dead wood has been removed fans almost expect to see Thor Heyerdhal and his Kon Tiki boat sail by!

Apart from slashing vast swathes of money from the wages bill, to the tune of £24 Million, Pelle has also managed to bring the average age of the squad down considerably, the Hammers rest home is soon to become a thing of the past.

Arguably the squad is light of a midfield enforcer, a right back and a back up striker. However these positions could be filled from within, Coventry, Diangana and Johnson could take up the slack instead of panic buying during the January window, bargains are rarely to be had in the new year.

The team spirit that Pellegrini and his coaches have engendered needs to be maintained, there is no point in having got rid of the old regime only to replace it with another one that reeks of ralgex, the way forward is definitely to sign young hungry players and to utilise the club’s youth set up to bring players through.

Considering the budget restraints of this new season, the board, the hierarchy and all those involved with the club can pat themselves on the back for a job well done and refusing to panic.

If Manuel Pellegrini can get West Ham in to Europe, it would be safe to say the board would look to avail themselves of his services for longer than his initial three year contract, he has started a project, one that he would probably like to see come to fruition.

Of course injuries and suspensions could upset the apple cart, but then again this season represents a real opportunity to break in to the top six due to the transition of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, this may be a unique time for the Irons to progress, even Tottenham are going to struggle because of their lack of recruitment.

The futuure is bright, the chairmen are orange! - Ed

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moore2come's picture

Great to see so much deadwood cast out especially the ever injured AC. My only fear is losing a key player to injury and failing to cover in their absence. Antonio is a blow but hopefully Yarmalenko can show the form he did last year. Although he won't terrify defenders he could tie a few in knots. The dreaded injury curse is the only thing I fear this season

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Reeks of Ralgex made me laugh out very loud...I fkn hate that smell and always will...missed my thigh in my twenties (yonks ago, yes) and sprayed the anal region and never used it again for ANY relief...It was the days of the jock strap....FFS WHY a jock strap? Closest thing i ever got to a thong though, lol

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La Vida Hammer's picture

To get in the top 6 must be his goal now, I will personally give him a knighthood if he did COYI

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