West Ham Online

Achilles injury in International duty.  Bugger.

Pity he got injured, jury still well and truly out on this transfer though, Not sure Antonio has it in him anymore and certainly not for the full 90 so perhaps gives Ings a chance to show he still has something as cant see the Brazilian kid being anywhere near ready.

Ings got a hat trick in a behind closed doors friendly recently, didn't he? You never know he could be coming good (about fucking time) certainly didn't want to leave in the window so obviously likes being a Hammer.

Will be crossing my fingers he does 

In fairness I think there is a debate to be had about whether Bowen could be used as a Striker. I'm still not sure whether that would be best for both us and his career but there could be an opportunity for both Club and Country for him to be played there more permanently. 

Kane is on the decline and we have a lack of talent up top, even more so now that the betting div Toney has done one to Saudi leaving only Ollie Watkins as a half decent viable option instead of Kane. 

And when Bowen is played up top, he can look very dangerous at times with his blistering pace running off the shoulder like he proved against Ireland in his short cameo appearance. He's also produced big moments running down that central channel like in the ECL Final and has proved time and again when in on goal he can be very clinical. 

My slight fear is we lose out on what he offers as a more natural wide Forward running with the ball, or indeed tirelessly working back for the Team and also assisting others when picking up the ball out wide. It's a tricky conundrum as he could be the answer for us permanently up top if he really goes for it and it also could be an excellent solution for him to break in to the England side too with him going to struggle to dislodge equally talented England Forwards like Saka, Palmer etc. 

Much depends on how he feels and performs when deputising there wanting to make the position more his own, especially now leading by example as our new Captain, or whether he's more than happy excelling at what he's always done best as a natural wide Forward... 

Antonio is a great example to him that he's seen uo close converted in to a permanent Striker and he could prove yet to be an even greater version of him with his pace and clinical finishing. 

Ideally we'd have a new Striker bang at it anyway so it wouldn't be so much of an issue but early signs indicate we may have to go down this route anyway and a good snap shot of it was recently in the Cup against Bournemouth when he predictably outshone Fullkrug up top when terrorising Bournemouth and getting in the right place at the right time also forcing the issue initially with his winning goal proving to be so important. 

Look at you with it all worked out, the post reads like football manager. Jury is still out on Bowen through the middle, although I'm not against giving him a proper go, as for Summerville that is still looking like a bit of a punt to me at this point. Realistically, Antonio will continue to start, but he's been away with Jamaica this week, so maybe he won't on Saturday.

Blessing in disguise, play Bowen up top, Kudus in the right and Summerville down the left.

This expensive signing has never sat well with me since we decided to drop 27M big ones plus wages on a 31/32yo this season. Alarm bells all over east London should have gone off and better used the money on someone else. Such a risky signing due to age, slow as arseholes, new to the Country, the League and our Club with a long history of burning through a lot of money on a position we notoriously fuck up often. 

Hopefully he soon returns to bang in 15 plus goals but it's a real concern at the moment.

 

Good job we’ve still got Ings - we might even set up so he can be used properly for a change.

He's not a striker for West Ham unless he's injured, probably a clause in his contract that requires it.