Review of the Team: Part II - Midfield

The midfield for the Hammers last season was very solid and had some individual and team performances that even the champions would have been proud of. The wings were very debated over the season on social networking sites and the press. Starting with the former transfer fee record holder Matt Jarvis, who was effective without actually assisting any goal in the Barclays Premier League last season. Jarvis placed the most accurate crosses into the box, sadly this does mean that for him to not have an assist this season, the Hammers positioning or fight for the ball was poor. However this can be worked on over pre-season, we need to anticipate where Jarvis will place the cross and make a run to that area of the box. Jarvis had a good ending to the season, he looked more vibrant but sadly we still are not getting the ball to the tricky winger quick enough, something which needs to be looked at during the pre-season.

Vaz-Te is probably the most marmite-like player at Upton Park, where either you love him or hate him. There is no denying the fact that Vaz-Te can be seen sometimes as lazy, but he did track back well with Demel most of the time. Although it seems that Vaz-Te was not useful player last season and his final ball was something which lacked quality, he did have four assists and three goals. The ironic concept is that Vaz-Te made more assists than the most accurate crosser in the Premier League, and has the worst final ball. He is a good player, when he wants to be but this inconsistency needs to be eradicated otherwise he will be leaving when he's contract runs out in June 2014. The Hammers will still need a winger to complement Jarvis, many names have been blasted about such as Zaha, but we will have to wait and see.

Moving onto the second most-hated captain in Kevin Nolan, maybe joined second with Lucas Neill. However how hated he may be with some sections of the fans for his lack of creativity and lack of distribution, the 'Funky Chicken' was brought out many times this year to make him the top goal scorer with ten goals. He may not please many people with what he does on the pitch, but you cannot knock his work-rate, for a player who has lost a lot of stamina over the last few years, he still moves about the pitch. He has a calming effect on the players, and is probably one of the best captains at the club for a little while. Hopefully his partnership with Andy Carroll can continue and the Funky Chicken will be seen many times next season.

Lastly, for this part of the review, The Hammers will soon have to give Mark Noble a testimonial. Noble made his debut for West Ham in the league against Wolves in January 2005. The 2014/15 will be Mark Noble's tenth year playing for the first team. When West Ham went down in 2011, Noble was deservedly slated for his poor performances, but a steady promotion campaign and a very good first half to a season hit with an injury has brought Noble's love affair with the Hammers back where it belongs. The midfielder had a good start to the campaign last season but the second half was hit with an injury which kept him out for a considerable amount of time. West Ham hope Noble can have another solid few years to help them increase in stature until the move to the Olympic Stadium. Noble will be in the team next year there's no doubt about it.

 

Come On You Irons!