Should West Ham United supporters take encouragement from their team’s pre-season results?
Graham Potter’s team concluded the Premier League Summer Series with back-to-back victories, beating Everton 2-1 at Soldier Field and then Bournemouth 2-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Niclas Füllkrug and Jarrod Bowen the scorers in Atlanta last Sunday.
That is certainly a good sign, given that the Irons are seemingly going to be reliant on Bowen and Füllkrug for goals, following the sale of Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham.
Callum Wilson has arrived on a free transfer from Newcastle, but the Hammers are certainly lacking attacking difference makers, so could they be about to sign up one of Britain’s brightest young talents?
West Ham's search for new forwards
West Ham certainly struggled for goals last season, a trend that could carry into the new campaign, as the table below documents.
Jarrod Bowen
14
Yes.
Tomáš Souček
9
Yes.
Lucas Paquetá
5
Yes.
Mohammed Kudus
5
No.
Niclas Füllkrug
3
Yes.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
2
Yes.
Emerson Palmieri
2
No.
Carlos Soler
1
No.
Danny Ings
1
No.
Crysencio Summerville
1
Yes.
James Ward-Prowse
1
Yes
Michail Antonio
1
No.
As documented, just five West Ham players scored three or more goals last season, one of which Kudus has already been sold, while there are rumours that Lucas Paquetá could be on the move too.
So, as they seek reinforcements, Sky Sports News reports that West Ham have “expressed an interest” in signing Ben Doak from Liverpool.
They note that Leeds United, Wolves and Everton have also been interested during this window, after Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace saw £20m bids rejected by the Reds in January.
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The Scotland international is unlikely to remain at Liverpool this month, actively ‘seeking regular first-team football’, so could he swap Merseyside for East London?
How Ben Doak would improve West Ham
Still only 19 years old, Doak has earned plenty of praise for his performances, both in a Scotland shirt but also during a loan spell at Middlesbrough last season.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, who is not one to get overexcited about anything, labelled him a “big talent”, while his then-boss at Liverpool Jürgen Klopp noted that Doak is a “good dribbler” who is capable of using both feet.
Meantime, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout is impressed by his “on-the-ball bravery and unpredictability”, forecasting that he is “on track” to become a Premier League star of the future.
So, let’s take a closer look at his statistics on Teesside last season.
Appearances
24
284th
Minutes
1,778
219th
Goals
3
100th
Assists
7
7th
Assists per 90
0.35
3rd
Expected assists per 90
0.23
11th
Shots on target %
51.9%
6th
Shot-creating actions per 90
4.15
14th
Goal-creating actions per 90
0.56
11th
Attempted take-ons
99
16th
Progressive carries
134
4th
Carries into the penalty area
80
1st
As the table documents, despite limited minutes, largely due to a season-ending thigh injury suffered in January, Doak ranked highly for the majority of attacking metrics included when compared to his EFL Championship counterparts.
His dribbling statistics are particularly impressive, most notably ending up fourth for progressive carries and first for carries into the opposition’s penalty area.
So, does this make him reminiscent of a West Ham star from around the turn of the new millennium?
Joe Cole began his senior career at West Ham, before departing to join London rivals Chelsea in 2003, returning to the Boleyn Ground for one season a decade later.
Across both spells, Cole scored 18 goals and registered eight assists for the Hammers, with Tom Mason of The Guardian asserting that he was ‘breathtaking’ when he first broke into the first team, adding that, in his prime, Cole’s ‘creativity, flair, technical ability and vision’ was amongst the best in the world.
Well, Doak boasts similar traits, characteristics and levels of ability and potential, possesing that Cole-like knack for being able to take a game by the scruff of the neck.
So could the young Scot thrive in East London? Well, like a young Cole before him, there have even been claims that the young Scot is a “generational talent”.
One thing is for certain, the talented teenager would represent a massive coup for West Ham, given that he has the potential to be even better than ex-Iron Cole ever was, which is high praise indeed, in the future.
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