If you purchased a brand new Mercedes would you park it on the drive and run around in your Fiat Punto? (no offence to Punto drivers)
The answer is no. So, why is Matt Jarvis not in the starting eleven? I appreciate he has joined a new club and is familiarising himself with surroundings and new team mates but he is not a 17-year-old lad who has just been promoted from the youth team. When you break the club’s transfer record for a player – a good English player – he nor the club have time to slowly break him into the team. He has to hit the ground running.
Big Sam is doing a great job, and I admire him, but as fans we have a right to ask why he isn’t playing from the start. Jarvis is one of the best crossers of the ball in England and in time will be up there with Beckham. The only difference is Jarvis has the potential to go further. He can use both feet, run at defences and frighten them. He can play on the left or the right and cut in on both flanks. The winger can hit a ball with venom, too.
I love Mark Noble and he epitomises everything great about West Ham United. He has great vision and passing ability. But I don’t understand why he takes corners? He is very precise and tries to pick out one player in particular. However, he often fails to clear the first defender. Matt Jarvis’s distribution is superb so he should take corners and free kicks in my opinion.
The ex-Wolves player was on the bench at Norwich and Sunderland. I know Sam is trying to do things ‘correctly’ but, come on! He changed both games when he came on and, ultimately, that is four dropped points against beatable sides. Why does Vaz Te continuously get a run out? He is evidently a ‘Michael Chopra’ type player. Stands out in the Championship but nowhere near good enough to step up to the Prem. This level is too quick for him and although he played OK against Fulham, he is only a basic supporting player.
Carlton Cole has taken a lot of stick – especially from myself – but when you look at the bigger picture, he can produce moments of genius. He is a confidence player and something just isn’t happening for him at the moment. Is it the style of play not suiting him? A lack of self belief? Unfortunately he needs five chances to maybe score a goal whereas most top strikers need one chance. I believe, with the introduction of Matt Jarvis, Cole can get back to being a goalscorer. His towering presence has been missing for some time now. We need somebody to get good crosses into him and give him some service. Until then Carlton remains anonymous as a lone front man.
My conclusion is this: take the ‘L’ plates and armbands of Matt Jarvis and throw him in at the deepend!
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