West Ham United - fan's 2008/09 Premier League preview
Wednesday, 06 Aug 2008 15:47
West Ham United - fan's 2008/09 Premier League preview and predictions
A supporter's views and expectations for the 2008/09 season.
Last season
Premier League: 10th - P 38 W 13 D 10 L 15 GF 42 GA 50 GD -8 PTS 49
FA Cup: Third round - lost 1-0 to Manchester City
League Cup: Quarter-final - lost 1-2 to Everton
The manager
Alan Curbishley rarely stopped complaining about injuries last season, so as he prepares for a new campaign with a largely fit squad, he will be under real pressure to deliver not only results but a superior standard of play.
Curbishley has a talented group of players and while there are still lingering concerns about the attitude of some, he's had sufficient time and money to make his mark on them.
This is Curbishley's squad and what they do over the next nine months could well define his career.
Chances of managerial change?
In the Premier League nobody is safe and it would be fair to say that some fans were less than impressed with some of the team's performances last season.
Curbishley has every chance of enhancing his CV when the new term gets underway, but he will not get too much slack from the supporters if his players get off to a poor start.
The players
Exits
John Pantsil was no great loss, but most fans will be sorry to see Bobby Zamora go.
He was a genuine and hard-working striker and scored some vital goals, especially in the great escape of 2006/07. Nobby Solano also did us a good turn, but with Julien Faubert and Lee Bowyer vying for that position, and Kieron Dyer still to return, it's easy to see why he's been released.
New arrivals
Valon Behrami looks like a decent acquisition, especially if it means the overpaid Lucas Neill becomes better acquainted with the bench.
The Swiss international is the only significant signing, but with the players who were missing for much of last term through injury now available, there will be no shortage of new faces.
Needs
Any team can be improved by new signings, but last season's squad will receive a significant boost from the likes of Dyer, Faubert, Craig Bellamy, Dean Ashton, Scott Parker, Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer, who all missed a lot of games last season.
Bellamy has attracted some interest from Manchester City and our talented keeper Robert Green has also been the subject of transfer rumours, but it's vital that we keep both of them, along with Ashton, who was never totally fit last season, and Matthew Upson, who was outstanding at centre-half.
With plenty of cover in defence, the club would do well to cash in on Anton Ferdinand before his value starts to fall. Luis Boa Morte should also be shown the door after some abject performances last season.
It's hard to see any real gaps in the squad, but if Liverpool were to loan out Yossi Benayoun, the excellent Israeli midfielder who left Upton Park last summer, most Hammers fans would welcome his return with open arms.
The fanbase
West Ham fans want to be entertained and will be hoping to see a line drawn under two seasons of relegation battles and injury-ravaged mediocrity come August 23rd.
There is plenty to be positive about: Green, Upson, Parker, Mark Noble, Ashton and Bellamy offer a strong spine; Faubert, Etherington, Freddie Ljungberg and Dyer provide pace and guile from the wide positions; while promising youngsters Jack Collison, James Tomkins and Freddie Sears will be pressing for more first-team action.
But despite what looks like a very strong squad, the supporters remain suspicious about the motivation of some members since the board started paying better salaries than the top four. Curbishley will need to settle on his team and sex up the football from day one or last season's rumblings of discontent will return.
Prediction for 2008/09
West Ham are notoriously difficult to predict. This is a team that last season beat Manchester United and Liverpool, but lost three consecutive games 4-0. A team that swept to the FA Cup final in their first season back in the Premier League and narrowly avoided relegation the following year.
When the new season starts, two questions will be answered very quickly: is the current squad the most experienced and talented West Ham have ever had or are the players an over-paid and under-motivated embodiment of all that is wrong with English football? And, is Alan Curbishley an astute organiser and effective motivator who the FA were foolish to pass over or did he reach his watermark keeping Charlton in the top flight?
Having learnt nothing during a lifetime of supporting West Ham, I'll go for the first option in each case, which means a cup run and a realistic chance of Europe come January.
Adam Barber