Why are Barcelona unstoppable? Triangles...

First of all, sorry for not posting in about a month, been busy with football and getting back into school and stuff. But I thought I'd go a bit off the topic from the slight disaster that West Ham United are at the moment, and concentrate on something beautiful. FC Barcelona are invincible at the moment, and this is down to their play style, which has become quite clear to me now. There style of play when there on the ball is a blatantly obvious when pointed out to you, and much different to any English club, and any other club in the world. This might sound slightly strange, but Pep Guardiola's winning formula is triangles. When a play is off the ball, lets say Xavi, he will look up, and have two options for a short pass. Once he has passed he will move into space, therefore giving the ball carrier one of his two options. These 'triangles' are very obvious when you watch Barcelona play, and the effectiveness of them is shown in the results Barca are producing. I have a feeling Barcelona might just be unbeatable this year, providing players and manager stay put. I hate to break it to you, but I don't see Man Utd being able to stop them.

Starting XI for Portsmouth?

This is what I think Big Sam will go for, but what do you guys think?

Off to the England Game.

YEAH! Thats right, Im off to Wembley tonight, and to be honest, I can't wait. This will be the first time in about seven years I've gone to see England play, and I have a feeling this is going to be a good game. We've been playing some great football as of late, and GRAAAHH I CANT WAIT! Ill give you all my views when I get back, or maybe tomorrow. Look out for me, I'm the one with the hair!

Henri Lansbury our new star?

 
I've just watched a few videos of Henri Lansbury, and he is a class act. Here is the highlights of the England U21 game a few days ago, in which he was awarded Man of the Match, for two goals and two assists.  I know we can't judge him on one performance, but from what I'ev heard from Norwich fans, that isn't too high above his average game. If we have someone like that in the middle of midfield, or even supporting the attackers, then we will rip open most Championship Teams, with great ease. This is a great signing, and that England game is hopefully a sign of things to come for us.

Green story a lie

 People magazine wrote an article about Robert Green, saying that he held transfer talks with many different top flight clubs. The article is here. This afternoon David Sullivan's son, Jack Sullivan (@jsullivanwhu) said on Twitter that the story is a complete lie, and that his dad is "thinking of suing the people over it!" 

Serves the lying buggers right, eh?

What a Community we have.

The West Ham blogging community, is one of the best communities in the world. I started this blog about 4 days ago, and the help I have received from the likes of The Boleyn Inheritance and RexHammer at We Love You West Ham is amazing. They've given me advice on how to get this blog exposure, how to make it look better, and told me I just need keep going and be persistent, and it will pay off. Never have I been part of such a helpful and inviting community. Us Hammers fans are the luckiest, and the best fans in the world. Thank You.

Our New Starting 11?

With Parker gone, and with a lot of new signings, who knows what our starting 11 could be? We've got quite a few options now, especially in our attack. Our formation is also sure to change throughout the season, probably between a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2. Personally I would pick a 4-4-2, so we can have Cole and Baldock up front. The midfield would be a tricky to pick, with only Nolan and Taylor certainties. The defence would indefinitely include Tomkins and O'Brien. You would probably have to keep Reid in there as well, due to the great partnership between him and Tonks. Here's what I think we'd  look like:

This would probably change a lot with all the new signings settling into the club, and especially the middle four, would change a lot. Tell me what you think, and who you'd have in your starting 11.

This is why we're Hammers.

Bid made for Carlton Cole by Galatasaray

Galatasaray have made an undisclosed bid for Carlton Cole. To be honest, I don't think he'll go. He turned down Stoke and said he was dedicated to us, so if that was all true, we'll still have him for Pompey next week. Though, you never no, the lure of that Turkish Sunshine could always change anyone's mind.

The in's and the out's

I know I'm a bit late, but it has to be touched on at least, eh? Especially with all the in's Big Sam's managed to land us. The full list of in's and out's is below. Firstly, I don't think we should concentrate to much on the outs. We've managed to keep a few players who we shouldn't have such as Robert Green and Carlton Cole,  and the rest of the out's I was expecting. But we really have to concentrate on the positive side of this Transfer Window.


  Big Sam has managed to bag us some top players, such as Kevin Nolan, and Matt Taylor, who seem to already be having a great impact on our season. We've also managed to grab some great young talent like Sam Baldock, as well Brian Montengro on loan, who I've heard is very very quick. We've also found a great replacement on loan for Scott Parker, in Henri Lansbury, a young playmaker and England U21. David Bentley has also arrived, and if he can hit previous form, he will completely tear apart a Championship side. We've also found some strength at the back, in Abdoulaye Faye and George McCartney. We've also signed a couple more players, who will probably be used to add depth to the squad. 


  All in all, I think most hammers fans should walk away from that Transfer Window with a big smile on their face. We might have lost a top player, but we've gained a few more.

Outs:
End of Contract:
Anthony Edgar
Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson
Daniel Gabbidon
Lars Jacobsen
Filip Modelski
Jonathan Spector
Adam Street
Matthew Upson.

End Of Loan:
Victor Obinna
Wayne Bridge
Robbie Keane

Free Transfers:
Luis Boa Morte
Kieron Dyer
Zavon Hines
Thomas Hitzlsperger
Demba Ba


Sold:
Scott Parker
Manuel Da Costa
Radalsav Kovac
Junior Stanilas

Loans:
Pablo Barrera
Jordan Spence
Ahmed Adbulla
Jordan Brown
Cristian Montano
Oliver Lee

Ins:
Free Transfers:
Papa Bouba Diop
John Carew
Joey O’Brien
Abdoulaye Faye.

Purchased:
Guy Demel
Sam Baldock
Matthew Taylor
Kevin Nolan

Loaned:
David Bentley
Henri Lansbury
Brian Montenegro
George McCartney

What I think of Scott Parker and His Transfer.

 Well, where do I start with this man. He has been such an inspiration to me and the way I play football. If any of you have read my earlier blog posts, you might have picked up that I also play Holding Midfield. I've not so much taken much from the way he plays, but more the passion that he puts into the game, and the leadership qualities he has. That has taught me not just things on the football field, but off it as well. 

  I see a lot of West Ham fans on other blogs saying that Scott was just a 'good player in a bad team' and he 'was the reason we went down'. I don't agree to an extent. I do agree slightly with him being a good player in a, lets be honest, crap team, but there was no way it was his fault we were relegated. I think he is one of the only Hammers players that could have held his head up high and said to himself that he had played well throughout the season. What we lacked last season, as does the team I play for, is 'winners'. People who wanted to win games. Scott, along with a couple of others, such as Green, were winners, and showed passion and gave 100% to West Ham. That is the reason I have so much respect for Scotty.

  Now for the Transfer Window. I think we had all accepted he was going to leave. I personally thought we could only go backwards from there, but the way its looking now we've sold Scott, I think we could easily be a Mid-Table Premier League side. Selling him has taken so much weight of our shoulders, because he was costing us so much money. We've now built an exellent squad, that could hopefully get us promoted. But we'll have to wait and see.

YoungHammer

Follow me on twitter @GrunDay

  

Hello and Welcome.

Hey Everyone.

  Im YoungHammer, a 14 year old from London. I have been a West Ham fan all my life. I've been reading many West Ham blogs and websites for quite a while now, such as The Games Gone Crazy, The Boleyn Inheritance and Claret and Blue in my Blood and follow them day in and day out, but I have never seen a blog which gives the perspective of a Younger Hammer.

  Therefore, here I am! I decided I may aswell give this blogging thing a go. Before I start my blogging adventure though, I better tell you all a bit about me, aside from West Ham. Firstly, I'm a big Online Gamer. Im part of a small community of Gamers, about 15 of us, and we're all great friends, we speak on Skype most days, and they will probably end up featuring in this blog. But don't worry, I have got a social life, with lots of mates in real life, and we go around, getting into fights and picking up girls, as us teenagers do.

Im also a keen footballer. I play Holding Midfield (Defensive Midfield) for a Semi-Pro club, and its great fun, being able to be the heart of a team, play-making and making those passes that start of great move. I love that feeling more than anything.

Well Thank You for reading my first blog post, and I hope you come back to read what I have to say.

YoungHammer

Also, Follow me on twitter @GrunDay