Practicality vs the Barcelona blue-print - West Ham vs Swansea

Today marks the occasion of a meeting between two sides whom many believe to be polar opposites.

Swansea City have been irritatingly praised by the media for their ability to keep possession and pass the ball smoothly ever since they were promoted to the Premiership. Sam Allardyce, whether he is managing Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United or AC Milan, will always be shunned as ‘a long-ball merchant’.

The birth of the modern Barcelona as the greatest footballing side in the world (and the consequent dominance of the Spanish national side) has resulted in a far greater emphasis on ‘style of play’.

Gianfranco Zola tried to adopt a slick passing style here a few years ago and although it had moments of success, the fragility of his team meant David Sullivan and David Gold opted to make a change, deeming it too risky for Zola to continue with the ‘project’. A sensible decision, albeit one executed terribly with the appointment of Avram Grant.

Swansea began their transition to prioritise attractive football with the appointment of Roberto Martinez in 2007. Since then they have remained dedicated to the trend of passing football and young, suit-and-tie coaches in the form of Paulo Sousa, Brendan Rodgers and the manager today, Michael Laudrup.

Swansea’s ‘project’ is thus six years old and began when they were in League One. By beginning in the lower leagues they have had time to remould the club from top to bottom without the desperate fear of losing Premiership status.

Our owners on the other hand, who infamously previously billed relegation as ‘Armageddon’, would rather take a more practical approach than follow the Barcelona blue-print and have thus chosen to favour an experienced, hardened, English manager like Allardyce.

After a disappointing run of form it seems some fans are again beginning to criticise Allardyce. However, I am extremely grateful that we don’t have chairmen like many other clubs who are quick to follow the fashion and become Barcelona wannabes.

Nicola Cortese at Southampton is so desperate to get the sort of praise that Swansea have had that he recently sacked Nigel Adkins, a man who had taken Southampton from League One to just two losses in twelve Premier League games, for a poor man’s Pep Guardiola (Mauricio Pochettino) who can’t even speak English.

Pochettino now has to motivate his players to stave off relegation (in Spanish) whilst introducing a complete change in style of football. Hopefully they are punished for their treatment of Adkins with relegation.

Barcelona is certainly a story for the football purist. They fielded an entirely home-grown team in November and won 4-0. They are widely regarded as the best team ever and sit fifteen points above their arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of the league.

Barcelona’s situation took years of hard work and restructuring, and they are now reaping the rewards of enduring years of Real Madrid-dominance during a time when Barca pumped funds into their academy whilst Madrid opted to splash out on ‘Galacticos’ such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham.

But crucially, Barcelona were a big enough club to sustain a high level of success during their era of restructuring. The Nou Camp already existed (holding nearly 100,000 people), they were able to have some stars such as Carlos Puyol, Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert and their league was not nearly strong enough for someone to rise up and topple them as a top 3 team.

West Ham are not nearly as big as Barcelona and English football is ruthless enough to mean if we spent a couple of seasons focusing on off-field restructuring rather than on-field matters we would quickly find ourselves relegated.

I’m not saying West Ham will never be in a position in which we could be comfortable enough to put a great deal of focus on our famed ‘academy of football’ and build a side capable of playing attractive football, after all, we could be in a 60,000 seater stadium in a few years, but practicality is the priority for now.

Stick by Big Sam during this wobbly period; anyone must admit that this is one of our strongest squads for many years. Never have we had so many options in midfield (I’m hoping Momo Diame is still a West Ham player by the time you are reading this). And I’m confident that the defence will become efficient again under the guidance of Allardyce and the immense Winston Reid.

Today we may be outclassed at times but I’m confident we will dominate periods and probably get a result today. If Gold and Sullivan had made a Southampton-like decision and appointed someone to play Swansea at their own game then I believe we would sink without a trace.

Some fans should learn to appreciate our current team rather than continually moaning about tactics. Every team hits a sticky patch in the Premiership and we must remember that this is our first season back in the top flight! It would be extremely unusual for us to effortlessly float into a European spot as many seem to expect us to.

Trust in Big Sam and over the next few years we will rise above those more interested in uncovering the next Lionel Messi than getting results on the pitch.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

Rickie Lambert is not the answer for West Ham

The result against Watford was certainly a disappointing one although the performance was rather typical of how we have played throughout the season. We look solid at 0-0 and if we are to get a goal then you fancy that we will go on and win it; but we never look fierce enough to come back and win from a goal down. Against Doncaster, even our ability to hold on to the 1-0 lead faltered.

Sam Allardyce not only suggested that someone like Southampton’s Rickie Lambert would’ve won us the game, but would’ve won us the Championship already! Although there is no doubt that Lambert has been vital to Southampton this season and is a top player, this comment is an unfair insult to our strikers.

“Sticking the ball in the back of the net”, as Allardyce eloquently puts it, has been the main problem of late, but this is more due to the lack of clear-cut chances we are creating than poor strikers. Reflecting on both games, I can think of very few chances which I would’ve genuinely expected one of our strikers to finish.

Whatever you think of Carlton Cole, although he is not the greatest finisher, he has earned seven England caps and scored 40 goals for us over his time here, and so it is clear that Cole does have the ability, even if he does not always show it.

It has become quite a cliché that Cole is a ‘confidence player’ who thrives on encouragement, so Allardyce’s praise of his striking counterparts for other teams is unlikely to have a positive impact on his performances.

Similarly, Nicky Maynard obviously has the ability to score goals and is someone who I have wanted us to sign for a number of years. His first goal for the club against Blackpool exemplified the kind of close-range, instinctive finishes that we purchased him for. Since that goal, with the exception of a couple of chances at Cardiff, Maynard has rarely had the opportunity to score this kind of goal.

Playing Cole and Maynard up front together on Wednesday night looked like an exciting combination however the duo never really managed to show their capabilities. There was a clear lack of chemistry between the pair which can only be created over more time playing together; however, if the results with two strikers continue to be as fruitless as that, the ruthless nature of football means we will swiftly revert back to one up top.

With Maynard such a new addition, it is rather thoughtless of Allardyce to publicly commend Lambert, perhaps suggesting a hint of regret that he had to settle for Maynard instead. I would’ve encouraged Allardyce to give Maynard another chance to play alongside Cole against Doncaster as he needs to net a home goal to boost his confidence.

Sam Baldock, previously the forgotten man, has looked very lively when he has been brought on recently, however I don’t hesitate to suggest that when both are at their best, Maynard is the better player and the one more likely to adjust to the Premier League. However he needs time to become successful at West Ham in the Championship if he is to be able to make the step-up next year (assuming we gain promotion) and for success he needs goals, and for goals he needs chances.

This begs the question as to whether Allardyce should be looking to criticise his midfielders rather than his strikers. The reality is that Southampton have five players who have achieved more assists than West Ham’s highest entry, Matty Taylor with five.

There is no doubt that Allardyce has identified this and looked to sign Leeds winger Robert Snodgrass in January, who has created ten goals this season; but as his efforts have proved futile, he has shifted the blame to the attack.

Allardyce himself admits that Kevin Nolan is “not a midfield player-maker”, and with Mark Noble holding a very deep role in midfield, there is little to no creativity coming from the middle of the park. In terms of wingers, Julien Faubert has had a better season but still only delivers one in twenty of his crosses to a satisfactory standard and the new addition Ricardo Vaz Te is evidently more comfortable with a central role.

Our finest creative player is obviously Matt Taylor whose quality of delivery is unsurpassed by anyone else in our squad. However this is just as obvious to the opposition who look to close him down quickly and keep him as far away from the by-line as possible, meaning that his possession of the ball often climaxes with a shot from distance rather than a chance for the strikers.

You may have forgotten about Ravel Morrison, who signed for us in January from Manchester United upon a wave of excitement, as he has yet to get anywhere near the first team. However, despite concerns about his attitude, it could be time to draft him in to the starting eleven. It’s not possible that he could’ve offered anything less than Jack Collison did on Saturday.

Morrison has been labelled one of the best prospects to have been in Manchester United’s illustrious youth academy in recent years, and has been compared to Paul Scholes by those who have watched him. Having seen the effect that the return of Scholes has had on United’s performances, perhaps we should be looking to bring in Morrison in an effort to improve our own. After being abandoned by Sir Alex Ferguson, it is likely that Morrison’s fiery attitude will push him to prove Ferguson’s assessment that he is not worth the hassle to be wrong.

Additionally, we have players like Henri Lansbury who could operate in a more creative midfield role but have been forced into makeshift roles all over the field including right-wing, right-back and goalkeeper! Surely it is obvious as to why we are failing to create as many chances as we should be.

I’m no critic of Allardyce but I certainly feel that he should consider different things he could do with his own squad before complimenting the players of others. All his statement about Lambert is likely to do is give the Southampton striker added belief that he is better than our players and to score more goals to keep the Saints at the top of the league, and thus leave us trailing in second place.

Carlton Cole obviously didn’t react particularly well against Doncaster as his performance left much to be desired. Let’s hope we create more chances against Leeds and “stick the ball in the back of the net” as many times as possible, otherwise another winless game could give Reading the momentum to jump ahead of us in the automatic promotion spots.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93