When
writing a season preview, it is easy to stray into war-time terminology, as a
new ‘campaign’ is waged, ‘battle-lines’ are redrawn and ‘hostilities’ resumed. And
yet, West Ham United’s 2013-14 opener
really has - to coin a phrase made famous by ‘claret’ and blue fan and actor
Danny Dyer - a ‘proper naughty’ feel to it, as Cardiff City come to the capital
to renew their often bitter rivalry with the Irons, this time in the top flight,
against what will be a febrile backdrop at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday.
This could
be just the start of a series of spats for West Ham. Throughout his tenure, ‘Big’
Sam Allardyce, the Hammers’ confrontation connoisseur, has attracted disparagement
– some reasonable and/or constructive; some less so – for his side’s style of
play, which has, at times, been critically acclaimed as more Pearl Harbour than War and Peace in its inclinations.
Nevertheless,
battlegrounds have been known to inspire some of the finest works of rhyme and
reason, from Wilfred Owen to Ernest Hemingway, so perhaps the fleet-footed
Stewart Downing, drafted in from Liverpool for £6m on Tuesday, can emerge from the
wreckage to provide the entertainment craved by the notoriously demanding fans
of the ‘World Cup Winners’.
With the
accrual of Downing, who was released after being arrested on suspicion of
assault last January, and another man from the North-East who has seemingly had
as many trials in the courtroom as on the pitch, Andy Carroll, the club now
boast an array of creative and destructive talent among their ranks. However, with
the weaponry also comprising off-field protagonist, Ravel Morrison, they are in
danger of resembling Kenny Dalglish’s aggressive and much-maligned Liverpool
set-up, which has now been all-but-purged from Anfield by new boss Brendan
Rogers.
Veteran
full-back Razvan Rat has been enrolled, after leaving Ukrainian side Shakhtar
Donetsk, to strengthen a defensive line, which at times went AWOL and conceded
53 goals last time around, while the Irons have also enlisted the services of
Real Betis goalkeeper Adrian and midfield prospect Danny Whitehead from
Stockport County. It is in attack, however, where heavy artillery still needs
to be added to the arsenal, as noted by co-owner David Sullivan in July:
"We
are happy with the rest of the team - all we need now is pace and goals" observed
the Hammers’ co-chief, after leave was granted to strikers Carlton Cole, on-loan
Wellington Paulista and Marouane Chamakh, who recently signed for
newly-promoted Crystal Palace, deserting Modibo Maiga to stand as the club’s
only recognized centre-forward, aside from the oft-wounded Carroll.
To that
end, Duvan Zupata’s move from Argentinian outfit Estudiantes seemed to be on
the cards yet failed to materialize due to work permit issues; this collapse being
the cause of great controversy, as the Columbian is now expected to join
Championship side Queens Park Rangers,
to which Sullivan responded defiantly:
"He's not played a single
international and our problem is that we couldn't wait a month so see if we
could get a work permit, as we need players now.”
Meanwhile, advances made towards convicted
rapist Ilombe Mboyo encountered fierce resistance from a supporter-based
backlash, having apparently being seen as simply a step too far, with Sullivan’s
teenage son, Jack, tweeting:
“99% of you
have said no to MBOYO. I’ll pass it onto my Dad. I’m sure we won’t sign him. We respect your views.”
Now, despite
being linked with another former Upton Park hot-shot, Jermain Defoe, for some
time, Allardyce et al. appear to have prioritised the signing of Chelsea striker Demba Ba, who only moved south
from Newcastle in January but has since seen his opportunities limited by the presence
of Fernando Torres and the revival of Romelu Lukaku’s career at Stamford
Bridge.
Even
allowing for these reinforcements, is it possible to foresee an Allardyce
eleven “play on the floor” in tune with the terrace anthem, or is this notion merely
a flight of fancy? Perhaps Big Sam needs to find a way of, in the words of great
American satirist George Carlin, “balancing this aerial assault with a
sustained ground attack”. In any event, his tactical acumen will be stretched
to the limit this season in the battle, first to escape submission to ‘second
season syndrome’, and then to appease a football-thirsty faithful, so as not to
become a casualty of an upwardly mobile regime primed for the parade to their
new Olympic Park headquarters.
A
favourable early run of fixtures last term certainly aided the manager in
maintaining momentum garnered by the previous season’s promotion. The
conquering of Aston Villa, Fulham, QPR, Southampton and Newcastle United
by Remembrance Day established the team in a commanding top-half position and
rendered their 16 losses, including a run of just two wins in their final eight
games - and those against relegated Reading and Wigan Athletic - relatively untroubling
to their top-ten status.
Similarly,
Hammers hierarchy will pray the survivors and new recruits can now build on
pre-season friendly fire that has seen seven wins in just over a month, the
highlight being an impressive out-maneuvering of Hamburger SV by three goals to
one on the North Germans’ own patch, a result unfortunately offset in the West by
the 1-4 reversal at the hands of FSV Mainz 05 three days earlier.
If
firepower can be added in time for the speculation ceasefire on 2 September,
the threat of East London’s finest being forced into beating a retreat down the
division seems relatively low-level. To a similar extent, the loss of ground in
the quest to emulate the grass-gripping approach, glorified by the heroes of
1966, may still take today’s team into new territory. However, the general and
his squadron must show both stomach and strategy in order to advance, as the
former attempts to grapple with the unique brand of morse code entrenched in elite
modern football management.
Big Sam has
taken his band of brothers up and kept them up; now can he march them on?
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