Thursday, July 10

Optimism shock at Upton Park

If this carries on we might even be feeling optimistic about the new season. West Ham have got their transfer business in early and have purchased a new Argentine striker in Zarate, a defensive midfielder of some potential who has won the Belgian league in Senegal's Kouyate, a young midfield prospect in Diego Poyet and a young left back in Aaron Cresswell. Now Sky claims we're in for Ecuador's striker Enner Valencia who scored three times at the World Cup, while ESPN claims we're after Dnipro's 24-year-old Ukrainian winger Yevhen Konoplyanka. 

These may not happen, but it's evidence that the two Davids have got fed up with mere survival via pragmatic football and are flashing the cash because they want to create a side capable of being in the top half or better next season. It could of course all go wrong. I remember being optimistic at the signing of Mexico's Pablo Berrara by Avram Grant, who was an international star but never got going at Uptom Park. 

We'll soon see how good the new signings are, but they are surely an upgrade on Joe Cole, McCartney, Taylor, Collison and Diarra (who has just been paid off at some expense). And if we are looking at any other South Americans, I wonder if that Javier Mascherano who starred for Argentina last night is any relation to the Javier Mascherano who was kept out of the West Ham side by Hayden Mullins?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has curbishly worked in management since ?
Curbs was the worst thing to ever happen to west ham.

mj said...

Sorry, curbs did a good job at a difficult time and we would not have gone down in 2010 if he had been allowed to stay.

Pete May said...

In defence of Curbishley, as MJ says, he certainly got results with a fantastic run during the Great Escape and a solid tenth place, though took him a long time to see the worth of Tevez. But not playing Mascherano was bizarre, though some papers claim it was because we couldn't afford his appearance money. Or maybe the club knew the third part ownership issue was about to blow up? What a shame we couldn't sign both players legitimately and give them a run...

Anonymous said...

mexico is not a south american country :))

Pete May said...

You're right Anonymous! Though it is south of the United States… will bear this in mind for pub quizzes, where I always get those name the border questions wrong.