If only Romanian legend Razvan Rat had conducted a little bit more research before moving to the Premier League with West Ham United.
Or, more specifically, about the managerial stylings of Sam Allardyce.
Razvan Rat played only 15 Premier League matches for the Hammers during the 2013/14 season. As a left-back who was used to playing intricate, stylish, possession-based football while accumulating seven Ukrainian titles with Shakhtar Donetsk, Allardyce’s direct approach made West Ham United something of a culture shock.
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Razvan Rat reflects on his brief spell with West Ham United
“Do you want me to tell you about my mistake with West Ham? Well, I didn’t analyse it at all,” Rat tells iAM Sport; his determination to make the move to England perhaps clouding his judgement.
“I was just desperate to play in the Premier League. When Florin [Manea, my agent] came and asked, ‘Do you want to go to West Ham?’ I said ‘Yes’ before he could even finish the sentence.”
Thanks to a man with 113 caps for his national team, we now know the Romanian term for ‘hoofball’.
“I didn’t think about the fact that Sam Allardyce’s teams were just playing ‘bubuită‘, you know? I mean, they only played the long ball! I went to a team without analysing the squad or the style.
“I got there and said, ‘Wait, what am I doing here?’ The problem wasn’t the quality of the players, the problem for me was the style.
“I had come from Shakhtar, with players who held onto the ball. [Pep] Guardiola had even said we were the only team he feared because we played the same way as Barcelona; we fought them for possession.”
Rat never really earned the trust of Sam Allardyce at Upton Park
Rat likens Allardyce to Florin Halagian; an iconic figure in Romanian football renowned for his ultra-direct style.
“Then, I went to a team using ‘Halagian’ tactics. I got there and Allardyce took me, while he was chewing a whole pack of gum, he grabbed me by the throat like this and said: ‘Yes, you played in the Champions League but this is the Premier League!'”
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“He told me, ‘What you’ve played before has nothing to do with this. First you watch, then you play.’ He told me I would watch the first four matches from the stands or the bench so I could see how things were, and only then he would put me in.
“I was on the bench for four games. In the fourth, I played 30 minutes. I learned that it was very intense. Everything was very intense.”
“I played about 20 matches or so, but I never had the ball properly.”
Rat’s finest moment came when West Ham thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at White Hart Lane early in the 2013/14 season. That was one of only 20 appearances he would make for the Londoners before joining Rayo Vallecano.
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