Why West Ham are NOT missing this former star
The one thing that was frustrating for West Ham with Mohamed Diame was that his potential wasn’t lived up to in his last two seasons at Upton Park.
They had seen what he was capable off after his free transfer from Wigan in 2012 when he was putting in some great displays playing behind the striker, down the middle of the park-scoring and creating goals just for fun.
When on top of his game, the Senegal international is unplayable. He has a great ability to take on defenders when on the ball, and create a shooting opportunity for himself out of nowhere. He scored some very important goals for the Hammers during his two year spell at Upton park and most of them were in the “spectacular” category.
The problem he faced was inconsistency in his performance. A lot of fuss has been made at the fact he would often be played out of position for West Ham – Sam Allardyce often him on the left side of the midfield rather than in the centre where the player said himself that he was most comfortable. A big reason for this, which Sam Allardyce would later go on to confirm, was that Diame was too much of a liability in the centre, often giving away the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch and gifting the opposition goalscoring chances when the team could ill afford to concede a goal.
He was often sloppy in possession, choosing to keep the ball at times where a pass to open up a chance for his team mates would have been the better option.
His fitness was also a worrying issue with him usually looking quite tired by the 70th minute of a game and having to be substituted, which made him a more effective player coming on as a substitute rather than starting the game. It was frustrating for the Hammers faithful and the manager himself to see the player not live up to his full potential – there is no denying the fact that when he fancied putting in the effort he was arguably West Ham’s finest player on the day.
This summer’s transfer window linked the midfielder with a move away from West Ham, with Everton being mentioned in the gossip columns seemingly on a daily basis at one point. It was like a game of ping-pong with reports coming out that he was leaving and the club answering them with the usual hands-off statement and quashing the rumours, denying any approach had in fact been made. Despite the player having already made his unhappiness at the club rather public, saying that Allardyce was holding him back from fulfilling his potential as a player. Diame also famously, and quite bizarrely claimed that he should be playing for a top six team which, even to his most loyal of supporters, found quite laughable.
Then transfer deadline day worked its magic and he was eventually sold to Hull City. Not a top six team but instead, with all due respect to Hull, another mid-table/bottom half team with similar ambitions. It seems like the move has done the player a world of good as he has come into his element since signing for the Tigers, scoring two goals in his first two games for them; one of which came against West Ham on his debut in a thrilling 2-2 encounter.
He is being played down the middle and showing off his ability and skill as he wanted to all along for West Ham. But West Ham will not miss him. He already started to show some signs for his new club that he is still unable to play past 70 minutes without getting knackered and having to come off. He is already showing signs that he is too greedy on the ball at times and tends to give it away a lot, despite two goals in two games.
West Ham are currently flourishing with their own summer signings and playing some ‘sexy football’ which has seem them look a real force going forward. They are creating a lot of chances – putting even the Liverpool defence under a lot of pressure and making them look second class. The Hammers do not need Diame, they have enough quality remaining, and even Stuart Downing has found himself playing well in a similar role to the one Diame was playing for the hammers.
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The player is quite simply a liability who will from time to time play really well. If Hull find themselves in a relegation scrap this season, they could do with Diame changing his attitude and sloppiness, otherwise he will prove to be more of a problem than a solution for the Tigers.
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