Nayef Aguerd - signed (30m)

[Coffee]

"OS West Ham United complete Nayef Aguerd transfer West Ham United are delighted to announce the signing of Morocco international defender Nayef Aguerd. The 26-year-old joins the Hammers from French Ligue 1 club Rennes on a five-year contract and adds further quality and depth to David Moyes‚Äô squad. He will wear the No27 shirt. Aguerd has enjoyed two impressive seasons with Rennes, enhancing the reputation he established at FUS Rabat, Dijon and with the Moroccan national team. Now, the left-sided player will continue his career in the English Premier League, where his combination of talents will see him provide strong competition for Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma. ‚ÄúI was really excited when I heard about West Ham United's interest,‚Äù said Aguerd, an impressive individual who speaks fluent French, English, Arabic and Spanish. ‚ÄúWhen I heard about it, I knew I needed to go to the Premier League, because it‚Äôs a dream for every player. ‚ÄúWest Ham is a historic Club. I saw a few of their games this year, and I saw the fans and the atmosphere were fantastic, with the bubbles! ‚ÄúI talked with the manager and he showed me that he was very interested, so it was easy to choose to come to West Ham.‚Äù Aguerd was born in the city of K?©nitra in the north of Morocco into a footballing family. His father played in the Moroccan top-flight, while his uncle Abdelmajid Bouyboud was capped 34 times and appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals ‚Äì an achievement his nephew could emulate in Qatar later this year. As a boy, Aguerd represented local club KAC of K?©nitra before being scouted and recruited to the national Mohammed VI Football Academy in the capital city of Rabat, where he spent four years playing alongside the likes of Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri. In 2014, aged 18, he joined leading club Rabat FUS, making 12 appearances in his debut season and attracting the attention of a host of leading Spanish clubs. After bulking up and working hard on his game, Aguerd then inspired FUS to their first-ever Moroccan Championship in May 2016, scoring a vital goal against Ittihad Tanger that all but clinched the title. After scoring in the 2017 CAF Champions League and impressing regularly for FUS over the next two seasons, Aguerd joined French Ligue 1 club Dijon in 2018. Two encouraging seasons for Les Rouges led to a transfer to Rennes, where he started the club‚Äôs first-ever UEFA Champions League match at home to Russian side Krasnodar and featured in four of six group-stage fixtures in the autumn of 2020. Aguerd has thrived at Roazhon Park, making 66 Ligue 1 appearances and helping Rennes qualify for Europe in each of the last two seasons. He scored twice in seven UEFA Europa Conference League appearances and started 31 Ligue 1 games as Rennes finished fourth last term. At international level, the defender was capped at U20 and U23 level before making his senior debut against Albania in August 2016. Two years later, he helped Morocco win the African Nations Championship on home turf. He is now a regular in the Atlas Lions‚Äô starting XI with 25 senior caps and was an ever-present in Morocco‚Äôs successful 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign and run to the 2021 CAF Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. Everyone at West Ham United would like to welcome Nayef to London Stadium and wish him all the best for his career in Claret and Blue."

[threesixty]

I refuse to believe you can get to the level of a premiership player and can’t be coached. You wouldn’t have made it there in the first place.  
I think the issue is more that some managers don’t know how to coach. Either they have gotten away with delegating those details to others or were lucky enough to get a bunch of players that knew what to do.

all elite sports people use and need coaches to refine their game and improve. Even the very best. 

I think it’s useful to identify what managers can coach players on an individual basis and what managers are more “directors” of things on a higher level. Hopefully Potter is the former. Fergie was the latter but relied on assistants and other coaches to do things he didn’t. 

 

[Hammer I am]

why cant you coach out basic defensive errors? It's a concentration issue, it can be dealt with if they're given time. Maguire seems to have stopped making howlers every week

[Eerie Decent]

Why can't Potter stop Mavropanos making defensive errors?

Because you can't stop someone making basic defensive errors when they are prone to making basic defensive errors.

Aguerd's HAT TRICK of errors in that cup game against Man Utd had fuck all to do with a system ffs

[pulhampete]

I'd let Potter take a look at him, play him in a couple of pre-season friendlies, find out where his head is at, and if Potter thinks he can do a job for us then keep him.
If not, sell him on before the summer window closes.

As others have said, we need to make sure we've got enough money to strengthen the squad in other areas, without having to buy yet another CB.

[Pshyco scored all 4]

Aguerd would be seriously good in a possession based team like potters . As useful as a pair of tits on a goldfish in a Moyes team.  With him returning and young Ollie scarles coming through. Thats £50m saved . 
 

[Sir Alf]

Get him back for Potter to assess pre season and then decide? He certainly struggled in one-on-one duels in the Premiership and in the air but perhaps as the left CB of a 3 with Kilman and Todibo he will bevless relied on for that and be used for ball carrying and coveringbthe ground more on recovery tackles because he is pretty quick.  Anyway we shall see. If someone offers a decent wedge we might take it andcspendvon someone else

[Ron Eff]

And Gary Been had a good tournament once.

A system does not take away your ability to avoid glaring mistakes week after week. He couldn't cut it in the Prem, he was rag dolled constantly.

But he has been good everywhere but here. 

Maybe you are right, and he isn’t cut out for the Premier League. There is every chance. But maybe, there is a slim chance that he just couldn’t adapt to backs to the wall, low block, chuck your body in the way of every shot and play zero football tactics. 

I think people are just saying they welcome Potter taking a look and seeing if he is a viable option. Our squad is threadbare, we’re going to need to be a bit creative in the summer given where we’ll need to strengthen!

[Eerie Decent]

And Gary Been had a good tournament once.

A system does not take away your ability to avoid glaring mistakes week after week. He couldn't cut it in the Prem, he was rag dolled constantly.

[Russ of the BML]

It's pretty hilarious everyone slagging Mavropanos off for making mistakes, then in the next breath, talking up the mistake monster Aguerd as the answer to our problems.

They're both a pair of clowns in the Premier League. Fact is, in the moments when the pair of pillocks are not making mistakes, Mavro is actually the better defender overall.

Let the 'Rolls Royce' carry on driving in a league where physical contact is practically banned. In the Prem, he was being rag-dolled on a weekly basis. Some very short memories here.

 

Yeah, and in the Euro's he looked unbreakable. Its sometimes about systems and how you are utilised. 

[Django]

Mavropanos is in top five worst centre backs we've had at the club, makes a vital mistake every other game. 

Behave. He’s had some decent games for us. He’s certainly not in a category that includes - Roger Johnson, Margas, Breen, Mackay, Davenport etc….

[Eerie Decent]

It's pretty hilarious everyone slagging Mavropanos off for making mistakes, then in the next breath, talking up the mistake monster Aguerd as the answer to our problems.

They're both a pair of clowns in the Premier League. Fact is, in the moments when the pair of pillocks are not making mistakes, Mavro is actually the better defender overall.

Let the 'Rolls Royce' carry on driving in a league where physical contact is practically banned. In the Prem, he was being rag-dolled on a weekly basis. Some very short memories here.
 

[Saul Goodman]

Mavropanos is in top five worst centre backs we've had at the club, makes a vital mistake every other game. 

[Ron Eff]

Oneside - Correct, he was available but nobody was interested as he was so poor. He was heavily linked with a move to Saudi, that didn't happened and then came the inevitable loan move. Sigh. It's daft and too lazy just to blame his poor performances on the manager/system etc, he was making mistakes that you'd see over the park. I couldn't give a hoot about any so called good performances for his country.

I think if anyone is thinking if he comes back he's suddenly morphed into Franco Baresi is going to be disappointed.

 

 

Take the point to a degree here re mistakes, but he was a good player before us, he’s looking a good player this season, and he looks a good player at international level. While it could very well be that he is not suited to the Premise League, it’s slightly lazy to not consider the common denominator. 

The only centre halfs that had real success under Moyes at West Ham were the body on the line, low block types. Your Dawson’s and Zouma’s. Maybe with the exception of Ogbonna who at his best could mix it with both styles. Some defenders aren’t suited to that type of defending for 90% of matches which is what Moyes style required.

He was clearly the clearly the wrong style of player to be signed by a team that looked to absorb pressure every game and occasionally counter. That doesn’t mean he can’t succeed in a ball playing, possession based team. Happy to give him a chance. I remember watching that winter World Cup thinking we had a real player on our hands.

[SurfaceAgentX2Zero]

I get all that and of course you are right.

But I don't think Mavro's problem is lack of positional awareness, timing of tackles or decision-making all of which you rightly point out can be coached and improved

He just gets massive brain freeze twice every match!

[Manuel]

Take your point as it's a big problem, but I think you can, at least to a point. Coach him to take up better positions, decision making, timing of tackles etc. I'm pretty sure many defenders have improved under better coaches. Potter has a rep for making players better.

[SurfaceAgentX2Zero]

I don't see how you can coach a player to stop making bloody awful unforced rickets. As useless as Lopetegui and Moyes were, I suspect they both said to him at some point, 'Hey Mavro, stop fucking up all the time'

[Manuel]

Agree with that. Aguerd is a ball playing CB and so as part of a 3 he will get that opportunity. Mavro needs to go. He really is a liability. 

I also agree with that. Possibly playing Potter's style will suit him. There's good footballer there i recon. Yep dump The Greek. 

Playing 3 at the back we'd be silly to dump Mavropanos. He's not great of course, but as a backup player to play when others are injured, he's ok 

Aguerd, Kilman and Todibo as first choice has to be worth a look, backed up by Mavropanos and Casey.

Agree, I'd keep Dinos. Yes his errors are infuriating but IF Potter and co can erase them from his game there's a decent old school stopper there, can be useful at RB too.

[stubbo]

If Potter is going to go with a back 3 going forward then he would make an ideal LCB. Keep Aguerd and move on Mavrapanos.

Can see us selling both though.

Agree with that. Aguerd is a ball playing CB and so as part of a 3 he will get that opportunity. Mavro needs to go. He really is a liability. 

I also agree with that. Possibly playing Potter's style will suit him. There's good footballer there i recon. Yep dump The Greek. 

Playing 3 at the back we'd be silly to dump Mavropanos. He's not great of course, but as a backup player to play when others are injured, he's ok 

Aguerd, Kilman and Todibo as first choice has to be worth a look, backed up by Mavropanos and Casey.

[Dick Shaftsbury]

For quite a while he was being called a "Rolls Royce" 

There's a good footballer in there somewhere, bring him back.

[Swiss.]

If Potter is going to go with a back 3 going forward then he would make an ideal LCB. Keep Aguerd and move on Mavrapanos.

Can see us selling both though.

Agree with that. Aguerd is a ball playing CB and so as part of a 3 he will get that opportunity. Mavro needs to go. He really is a liability. 

I also agree with that. Possibly playing Potter's style will suit him. There's good footballer there i recon. Yep dump The Greek. 

[Russ of the BML]

If Potter is going to go with a back 3 going forward then he would make an ideal LCB. Keep Aguerd and move on Mavrapanos.

Can see us selling both though.

Agree with that. Aguerd is a ball playing CB and so as part of a 3 he will get that opportunity. Mavro needs to go. He really is a liability. 

[BerlingtonBertie]

if the bloke was any good he’d be playing for a decent Premiership team i.e not us. No one was interested.
Get rid.

[Fauxstralian]

I’d like to him & most loan players come back so that Potter can assess them over the last few months of the season & see if they have a future

[dealcanvey]

If Potter is going to go with a back 3 going forward then he would make an ideal LCB. Keep Aguerd and move on Mavrapanos.

Can see us selling both though.

[Manuel]

Eerie Descent had a one man crusade against him on here, utterly loathed him as a player and was happy to keep reminding us. Didn't he get a ''hattrick' in one game, 3 mistakes that led to goals? Manu away IIRC.