Monday, July 31, 2023

The Curious Case of West Ham

West Ham remains the only Premier League club yet to sign a player in this summer’s transfer window. Supposedly internal disagreement over potential targets has been sand in the gears of the Hammers’ summer process. David Moyes has a well renowned reputation for stubbornness and control, often reflected in conservative, unimaginative play from his team. It is thus less than surprising that there should be conflict with a newly hired technical director who wants to scour exciting, young talent from across Europe’s other leagues to identify transfer opportunities for the Hammers. A cautious Moyes prefers tried and true Brits with Premier League experience.

New Technical Director Tim Steidten and Moyes have thus been at purported loggerheads on how to spend the largesse received from the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal. Rice’s departure had been known for a long time before the deal closed and one would have thought a clear strategy for reinvestment would have been developed. Not in East London, however. Whatever early plans might have been in place were apparently blown up when Steidten joined from Bayer Leverkusen effective July 1. West Ham had already made the unorthodox move of elevating club playing legend Mark Noble to the position of Sporting Director before bringing in Steidten with responsibility for “overarching player recruitment strategy.” Talks which had begun with Leicester for winger Harvey Barnes were tabled on the new technical director’s arrival. Barnes eventually moved to Newcastle to play under another British manager, Eddie Howe. Steidten’ s subsequent suggestions have since failed to gain traction while Moyes has targeted other British players such as Scott McTominay, Conor Gallagher and James Ward-Prowse to replenish the Hammers’ midfield. A bid for Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, a reported favorite of Moyes, was recently rejected by the Red Devils.

With Maguire seemingly off the table, Steidten is now pushing for the Hammers to acquire center back Jonathan Tah who the German is familiar with from his time at Bayer Leverkusen. Unclear is whether Moyes would support the Tah move. The one player with whom there seems to be little disagreement is Manchester City’s Calros Borges. The Hammers are supposedly close to making the Premier League 2 winger their first signing of the summer. While Borges seems a player with much potential, the left-wing position is currently occupied by Said Benrahma and is not necessarily among the club’s greatest needs right now.

West Ham’s confusing window follows a season of contradiction. While battling relegation all season long, the Hammers also secured their first European title in 58 years. Moyes’s hoisting of the Europa Conference League trophy probably saved his job after the club’s poor performance in the Premier League. The Hammers narrowly avoided descending to the English second tier while, at the same time, they will be playing in Europe for a third consecutive year. The club is somewhat of a head scratcher. The transfer window could get dicier as well should strikers Gianlucca Scamacca and Michail Antonio depart. Scamacca is a target of some of the Italian clubs in Serie A where Scamacca thrived before coming to London. Antonio is one of the many Premier League players being connected with Saudi Arabia this summer.

The Hammers are already enfeebled up top with no player having scored more than six league goals last season. With their best player in defensive midfielder Declan Rice now departed, West Ham’s leadership needs to quickly determine the way forward or the Hammers could fall through the relegation trap door this coming season. 


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Friday, July 28, 2023

Aston Villa Window Success Now Includes Diaby

Aston Villa landed another summer signing this week as Moussa Diaby joins Unai Emery’s project at Villa Park. The former Bayer Leverkusen player and French international wasted no time in introducing himself, scoring in the club’s preseason friendly in Orlando Wednesday night. The winger is known for his direct style of play, advancing and attacking off the dribble. Diaby ranked among the top 8% of wingers in Europe’s top five leagues in take-ons leading to a goal last season and fits well with Emery’s attacking scheme. The left footed player is also quite versatile and, while principally a left winger, can play across a multitude of attacking positions, including as a second striker alongside main trigger man Ollie Watkins.

Diaby joins Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres as Emery’s premier additions in this transfer window. The 24-year-old rejoins former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Leon Bailey and could well bump the Jamaican from the starting line-up. There should be minutes for all, however, as Villa compete in the Europa Conference League this season in addition to the Premier League and domestic cups. Emery led Aston Villa to a seventh-place league finish after the club was teetering on the brink of relegation under former Manager Steven Gerrard last season. Diaby’s previous experience in European competition adds to his attraction for Emery. The winger has scored 12 times and assisted on 8 goals in 28 Europa League appearances. Emery is also familiar with Diaby’s talents from when the Spanish manger was in charge at PSG while Diaby was proving himself as an academy player in Paris. Diaby will need to adapt to the Premier League and will be tasked to improve his off the ball performance in a much more competitive league.

Despite the goals by Diaby and 21-year-old squad hopeful Jaden Philogene, it was Youri Tielemans who received the Man of the Match in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Fulham. The Belgian international controlled the midfield with his clever passing skills and positional awareness. The former Leicester player departed the Foxes on a free transfer this window following the Foxes relegation from the Premier League. The Villa acquisition could be one of the less publicized bargains of the summer window. At 26 years old, Tielemans is a seasoned Premier League player who spent four years with the Foxes and scored the winner in their 2021 FA Cup win over Chelsea. Emery reached out personally to Tielemans to seal Villa as his next port of call.

The manager has enormous influence in Villa’s transfer dealings and was reunited in June with Monchi, his former Sporting Director at Sevilla, who now assumes that role at Aston Villa. Just weeks after that appointment, Villa secured the signature of one of Emery’s former Villareal players. Defender Pau Torres played for Emery from 2020 until the manager’s departure for Birmingham. During that time Torres became one of the most sought-after center backs in Europe. The 26-year-old Spanish international has represented his country at both Euro 2020 and 2022 World Cup. Torres and Emery led Villareal to the Europa League championship in 2021. Villa now has a deep central defender core in Torres, Tyrone Mings, Ezri  Konsa and Diego Carlos. Balancing the talents and personalities in front of World Cup winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez will be a high-class problem for Emery as he navigates through Villa’s extended fixture list this upcoming season.

Things continue to look up at Aston Villa as Emery redeemed his Premier League reputation after a disappointing stay at Arsenal earlier in his career. Emery now takes Aston Villa to Europe where the manager has lifted four previous trophies.

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Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Zaha Era Ends At Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace competed for a ninth consecutive year in the Premier League last season, finishing in 11th position above London rivals such as Chelsea and West Ham. It has been an unprecedented run of success for the club from South London which is often overshadowed by much larger and storied London rivals. Three men have been principally responsible for the Eagles’ success and the individual most associated with the club and the best player in its history now departs.

Wilfried Zaha has signed a contract with Galatasaray to compete in the Turkish Super Lig next season. The 30-year-old Zaha will finally get a chance to play Champions League football after close to a decade of sometimes seemingly single handedly keeping his boyhood club in the top tier.

Zaha grew up just blocks from Selhurst Park and joined the club’s academy program at just eight years old. He would go on to make 458 appearances and score 90 goals for the Eagles. The winger established himself as one of the Premier League’s most dynamic players and became a talisman for the small London team and its legendary Selhurst Park supporters. Zaha would star in the 2012/2013 Championship division playoffs which earned Crystal Palace promotion to the Premier League as he scored twice in the semifinal versus arch-rival Brighton and drew the penalty which secured a 1-0 win over Watford in the final to clinch Premier League play for the Eagles. They have stayed up ever since with Zaha being the standout on an uneven roster reflecting the budgetary exigencies of a small club.

Chairman Steve Parish, a lifelong Crystal Place fan, is the second of the triumvirate which has led Crystal Palace to its era of success. Parish led a consortium in 2010, shortly after Zaha made his first senior appearance with the club, which saved Crystal Palace from administration. Parish would sell Zaha to Manchester United in what would be Sir Alex Feguson’s last major signing for the Red Devils. Zaha would return to the Eagles after failing to find favor with Ferguson successor David Moyes. Zaha would flourish upon his return to the Eagles and there would be irritation by the winger at Parish’s subsequent refusals to sanction transfer opportunities for Zaha with other Premier League clubs such as Arsenal. Zaha now gets his chance to play on Europe’s biggest stage, the Champions League, with the Turkish giants on a free transfer with Parish’s blessings and thanks.

The third member of the Crystal Palace triumvirate, Manager Roy Hodgson, now has problems. Hodgson, like Zaha and Parish, has long term affections for the club where he attended Selhurst Park matches as a youth. The esteemed manager with top tier and international credentials responded to Parish’s siren call when the club’s league status was threatened. Manager Frank De Boer was failing miserably, and relegation beckoned when Hodson took the reins in September 2017. The oldest manager in Premier League history guided the Eagles to safety as they became the first Premier League club to survive after losing its first seven matches. Hodgson would leave after the 2020/21 season but again rode to the rescue last season when the club faltered under Manager Patrick Vieira.

Hodgson now faces a new Premier League season without the club’s all-time greatest player. Worse yet, the club’s upcoming young players are at risk of being poached even before reaching their potential. Chelsea has submitted a bid for winger Michael Olise and is rumored to have an interest in Eagles center back Marc Guehi, a former Chelsea academy player. Eberechi Eze, who flourished under Hodgson last season and got his first call up for the England national team, is also a target for bigger clubs. How Parish and Hodgson navigate the remainder of this transfer window could decide whether the club stays up this season.

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