CURBS BACKS CURRENT SQUAD TO PUSH FOR EUROPE
Alan Curbishley will not be dipping into the transfer market this summer as he has backed his injury-hit West Ham to push for European honours next season.
They take on Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon knowing that a win will see them finish in tenth – a far cry from last season when they survived the drop by a whisker.
Having shelled out £29m last summer Curbishley’s squad has been plagued by “an unprecedented amount of injuries”.
He said: “It has been a difficult season. From the second week of pre-season it has been very difficult in terms of injuries. But I have nothing but praise for the players who have featured.
“Last summer we lost an important triangle of players in Carlos Tevez, Yossi Benayoun and Nigel Reo Coker – they played a big part in keeping us up.
“And we replaced them with Craig Bellamy, Julien Faubert and Scott Parker, but they have not featured because of injury.
“It has been a very messy campaign in terms of team selection. The players we have been missing have been the pacy, offensive players, like Kieron Dyer and Bellamy.
“They are the type of players who can unlock a team, especially at home. And they can do much damage away on the break too.”
Curbishley, who meets with Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and the other board members on Monday morning for a season review, doesn’t want to make any signings – as his initial buys have not been allowed to have a fair go.
He added: “I am hoping that sometime in June that I can sit down and say, ‘right, I’ve got at least this 20 players’.”
“I wanted a solid season this year so we could lay some foundations this year. But with the injuries it hasn’t turned out how I wanted.
“But once all the players are back we can be confident that we will be better next year, and push on try and attack that top six.”
Alan Curbishley will not be dipping into the transfer market this summer as he has backed his injury-hit West Ham to push for European honours next season.
They take on Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon knowing that a win will see them finish in tenth – a far cry from last season when they survived the drop by a whisker.
Having shelled out £29m last summer Curbishley’s squad has been plagued by “an unprecedented amount of injuries”.
He said: “It has been a difficult season. From the second week of pre-season it has been very difficult in terms of injuries. But I have nothing but praise for the players who have featured.
“Last summer we lost an important triangle of players in Carlos Tevez, Yossi Benayoun and Nigel Reo Coker – they played a big part in keeping us up.
“And we replaced them with Craig Bellamy, Julien Faubert and Scott Parker, but they have not featured because of injury.
“It has been a very messy campaign in terms of team selection. The players we have been missing have been the pacy, offensive players, like Kieron Dyer and Bellamy.
“They are the type of players who can unlock a team, especially at home. And they can do much damage away on the break too.”
Curbishley, who meets with Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and the other board members on Monday morning for a season review, doesn’t want to make any signings – as his initial buys have not been allowed to have a fair go.
He added: “I am hoping that sometime in June that I can sit down and say, ‘right, I’ve got at least this 20 players’.”
“I wanted a solid season this year so we could lay some foundations this year. But with the injuries it hasn’t turned out how I wanted.
“But once all the players are back we can be confident that we will be better next year, and push on try and attack that top six.”
Labels: Alan Cubishley, England, football, Premier League, West Ham United
