So with the season nearly upon us, and the transfer window now in full swing people are waiting on tender hooks waiting for our next signing. But with the call for more experienced players to be brought in the squad to bring more depth, will this have an affect on our academy players?
As of this moment, Lewis Page has gone to Coventry on Loan till January and Josh Cullen has gone to Bradford in a Similar deal. Anyone who saw the Juventus game would agree that Cullen did not look out of place in that game. So is sending players of this calibre off on loan beneficial to the team? Yes they will get experience at a first team level, but players learn from other players and their surroundings and currently with the facilities and players we have, staying must be a better option to grow. Also with the new format of the EFL cup that west ham are now involved in, a lot of our younger players would have had the chance to play in competitive games under the tutor of Super Slav.
One of the discussions I have seen on Twitter is that west ham need more cover at CB and RB. If we take the CB position for example Ogbonna and Reid are the 1st pairing, followed by Collins, then you have Kouyate and Nordtveit who can fill in and then you have of Course Burke and Oxford. I understand that there could be an injury crisis but we would have to have some very bad luck to lose all those players. And if we bring people into cover that position, what kind of message does that send to Burke and Oxford let alone other youngsters at the club.
Basically from a team that played players from Moore to Brooking and Cottee to Joe Cole from a young age we now seem to worry that players will not be experienced enough/or do not have enough belief that players will rise to their potential. We should be proud of our youngsters and have faith in their ability, and not be scared if they make mistakes. As you can only learn from making mistakes.
Worse case scenario is we get players into our team with experience and sell them on for an extortionate amount of money, such as in the case of Jordan Ibe and Brad Smtih. Or best case scenario, we start getting players promoted from the youth team at regular intervals and save a small fortune on transfers.
Whatever happens, you can bet there will be highs and lows this year. But whatever happens we will always be behind the team.