News

West Ham United: Niall McCaughan slams the Irons’ ‘lack of structure’ in the transfer market

|
Image for West Ham United: Niall McCaughan slams the Irons’ ‘lack of structure’ in the transfer market

Jim Salveson, Marley Anderson and Niall McCaughan discussed all things Premier League on a recent edition of the Football Social Daily podcast and they spent some time talking about West Ham United and their recent transfer business during the show.

As per Transfermarkt, in the 2020/21 season so far, West Ham have made two permanent additions to their squad, in the form of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal, both of whom were signed by the East London club from Czech side Slavia Prague, while they have also brought Craig Dawson into their squad on loan from Championship side Watford.

1 of 10
General view inside the London Stadium ahead of West Ham v Norwich City

Who did West Ham United face in their opening fixture of the 2020/21 Premier League season?

McCaughan was critical of West Ham while discussing the club’s recent transfer business during this edition of the Football Social Daily podcast, with the podcaster slamming the club’s “lack of structure” in the transfer market.

McCaughan said: “The fans are absolutely up in arms about the way the transfer window’s gone for West Ham United, and rightly so. You look at the way that last season went for the Hammers, where they basically just about stayed up thanks to a loan signing from Slavia Prague of Tomas Soucek, who scored a couple of goals and kept them up, in my opinion. I think him and [Michail] Antonio [were] the two biggest performers in those last few games of the season to really help West Ham stay up.

“I think the key to this is the fact that West Ham don’t have a director of football; they’ve got a manager who is arguably out of date at this moment in time, who hasn’t really lived up to the heights he hit at Everton, which is coming up to 10 years ago now; and they’ve got no scouting network.

“I just think the issue for West Ham is that lack of structure when it comes to business, that lack of structure when it comes to the transfer market and you cannot wing it in the Premier League, because you will get found out.”

McCaughan also discussed the reports linking the Irons with a move for Brentford’s Said Benrahma before the current domestic transfer window closes on Friday and he criticised West Ham for targeting the Algerian as he believes that they should be more focused on strengthening in other areas.

He said: “The key is at the back for West Ham and everyone knows it, and every other fan of every other Premier League club knows it as well. So, it’s just frustrating if you’re a Hammers fan – why can’t those at the top of the club see where the money needs to be spent?

“If you can afford £18m on Benrahma, then you should be able to afford £18m on a decent Championship centre-back who might come in and do the job for you, or even a centre-back from one of the lesser European leagues because you can pick up those bargains, but the problem is if you’ve got no scouting network, if you’ve got no director of football, if you’ve got no discernible style of play, it’s very much lucky dip.”

Do you agree with this criticism of West Ham?

YES

YES

NO

NO

TIF Thoughts on the West Ham board’s structure…

Judging by what McCaughan had to say, it’s clear that he believes West Ham don’t have a very sound strategy in the transfer market at present.

However, the podcaster did praise Soucek, who joined West Ham on loan in last season’s January transfer window and subsequently made the move to the London Stadium on a permanent basis during the summer. Meanwhile, the only other permanent signing that they have made in recent months – Coufal – has gotten off to a positive start at the club, earning an impressive overall WhoScored rating of 7.55 in his first Premier League game for the Hammers.

With that in mind, perhaps West Ham’s transfer strategy is not all that bad and if Soucek and Coufal go on to enjoy an impressive 2020/21 campaign, then this criticism from McCaughan may well prove to be very harsh. However, at present, it may be too early to judge the Irons’ recent transfer business.

Share this article