New Signing: Doneil Henry

Doneil Henry

DOB: 04/04/1993

Age: 21

Position: Defender

Previous Club: Toronto FC

Previous Division: Major League Soccer

Transfer Date: 03/01/2015

Reported Fee: £1.5m

Analysis

In a move that has been chatted about for quite some time now, West Ham United finally tied up the signing of Canadian centre half Doneil Henry at the weekend.

The 21 year old joins the Irons from Cypriot side Apollon Limassol without playing a game for the club. Instead, he has spent his entire playing career in the MLS with Canadian outfit Toronto FC.

Coming from across the pond you might think that the Canada international is a bit of an unknown quantity, but with the recent rise of the MLS, there is a wealth of performance data on our new man. So what do we know about him?

Comparison

Henry joins what is a rather strong pool of centre halves at West Ham, with James' Tomkins and Collins battling to become Winston Reid's full time defensive partner. So how does the new youngster stack up against his new teammates?

 Obviously the MLS is at a lower standard to the Premier League, and Henry will need to adapt to the new level, but by comparing his performance data from the 2014 MLS campaign to the performances of West Ham's defenders in the 2014/15 season so far, we can get a flavour of his style of play, and see what sort of signing we have made.

We'll start with passing accuracy. In his 21 MLS appearances in 2014, Henry registered a respectable pass completion rate of 78%. This is equal to James Tomkins in the league this season, just behind Winston Reid's 80%, and much ahead of James Collins' paltry return of 70% completed.

It should also be noted that Henry has improved this side of his game dramatically, with a pass completion rate of just 69% in the 2013 season.

In terms of tackle completion, Henry again comes in the middle of the pack, with a 42% success rate. Again, this is higher than James Collins (31%), but is lower than the success rates of both Tomkins and Reid.

It should be noted that Henry put in an attempted 3.4 tackles per 90 minutes last season, higher than Tomkins (2.81) and Reid (2.57), but lower than Collins (4.12).

The final area to compare is success in the air.

This is an area that West Ham's defenders are particularly strong in, and it is something that Henry will need to improve upon if he is to dislodge any of his new team mates.

Henry pails in comparison to his new teammates, with a success rate of just 51%. Of the Hammers existing centre backs, Winston Reid's success of 67% is the lowest, with both Tomkins (76%) and Collins (77%) winning more than three quarters of their aerial duels.

Strengths

Probably the biggest strength that Henry possesses is his ability to read the game. In the 2014 season, Henry made a massive 4.3 interceptions per 90 minutes. That's more than Winston Reid and James Tomkins combined (3.86) and far beyond James Collins impressive record of 2.64.

The image below is taken from a game against DC United back at the start of the 2014 campaign. In the game, Henry had 100% aerial success, made 11 blocks, and an enormous 8 interceptions, shown below.

http://mls.squawka.com/toronto-fc-vs-d-cunited/

And just to prove this was no fluke, Doneil ended the campaign with another 6 interceptions away to New England Revolution, as shown below.

I've also included Henry's heat map from that game. Perhaps surprisingly, given his recent inclusion as a right back for the Canadian national team, is that he lines up on the left hand side of the central pair, possibly suggesting he is now in direct competition with Winston Reid for that slot in the team.

http://mls.squawka.com/new-england-revolution-vs-toronto-fc/

Weaknesses

Doneil Henry is a very young centre half, yet to play at a very high standard of football. It is inevitable that there are many areas of his game that will need to develop and improve. However, there is one main thing that stands out as a weakness for the youngster.

Henry's disciplinary record is bad. Terrible, really.

In just 21 appearances in 2014 he managed to pick up 8 bookings. In 20 appearances in 2013 he got 6, and a pair of reds for good measure.

This is something that must improve, fast, if he wants to become a trusted member of our first team squad.

Conclusion

On the surface, this looks like a very good deal for the club.

It is unlikely that Henry will play a huge part in the rest of this season, but hopefully we will see him get a fair amount of minutes under his belt before the season is out, and it is not inconceivable that he could be the long term partner to James Tomkins at the heart of our defence.

We should be patient with him, as he is yet to be tested at the top level, but with a bit of time and faith, we could have a top player on hands.

Doneil Henry, welcome to West Ham United.

New Signing: Morgan Amalfitano

Morgan Amalfitano

DOB: 20/03/1985

Age: 29

Position: Winger

Previous Club: Oympique de Marseille
Previous Division: Ligue 1

Transfer Date: 01/09/2014

Reported Fee: £1m

Analysis
In the final throws of the transfer window, West Ham United rolled the dice once more to bring in one-time French international Morgan Amalfitano from Marseille.

The winger spent last season on loan in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion, and returns to England for a fee of around £1m, on a one year deal with a further two year option.

Amalfitano's arrival sees the squad bolstered in wide areas, increasing our roster of wingers to four, and strengthening the side after the departure of Mohamed Diamé earlier in the day.

So how does Amalfitano compare to his new colleagues, and a couple of departed part-time widemen?

Comparison
In terms of chances created, the new man compares favourably.

In his time with the Baggies last season, Amalfitano created 1.89 chances per game, a rate only bested by Stewart Downing (2.23). In fact, his rate of creativity was greater than Mohamed Diamé, Joe Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te combined (1.82).

The Frenchman also compares well when it comes to goal involvements.

As well as netting four times for West Brom last season, Amalfitano recorded three assists, meaning his combined goal involvement stood at a respectable 7 goals.

As you can see in the chart below, the departed Diamé had the best record of West Ham's widemen last season, with a total of 6.

The record of four goals scored is made more impressive by the fact that the wideman attempted fewer shots per 90 minutes than all of his competitors, bar Matt Jarvis.

Amalfitano only attempted 1.14 shots per game last season, compared to 2.18 by Diamé and 3.47 from Vaz Te.

Strengths
Amalfitano's main strength as a footballer is his attacking intent. He enjoys running with the ball and taking men on, and gets the ball into the box with real regularity.

Last season, Amalfitano attempted a whopping 3.74 take ons per 90 minutes. In the West Ham squad last season, this figure was only bested by Ravel Morrison (4.52) and Mohamed Diamé (5.82). And with a success rate of 47%, it was a common site to see the Frenchman beating fullbacks for fun and scampering away down the flank.

And there is end product too.

Last season, only Stewart Downing and Ahmed Elmohamdy (Hull City) put in more successful crosses than Amalfitano. In total, he attempted 7.49 crosses per 90 minutes - less than Downing (10.41) and Jarvis (8.11) - with a success rate of 26% (Downing 29%; Jarvis 20%).

The images below show Amalfitano's performance in West Brom's 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Hawthorns last year.

The winger completed 2 of his 3 take ons (right), and created three chances for teammates with his crossing (left). On top of this, he also scored a goal and recorded a respectable 82% pass completion rate.

http://epl.squawka.com/west-bromwich-albion-vs-sunderland/

West Ham fans should be well aware of Amalfitano's attacking capabilities, after he put in a key performance against the Hammers in our 1-0 defeat in the Midlands last season.

You can see from the image below that the winger spent a lot of his time pressing forward, penning back George McCartney and causing a general nuisance of himself.

During that game, Amalfitano created a huge 5 chances, setting up the winning goal for Saido Berahino.

http://epl.squawka.com/west-bromwich-albion-vs-west-ham-united/

Weaknesses
Having spoken to a couple of Baggies fans on deadline day, I've been told that the main issue with Amalfitano is that he can be quite wasteful.

Last season, the wideman achieved a pass completion rate of 78% - equal to Matt Jarvis. However, he also lost the ball through lapses in concentration or trying to do too much on a number of occasions.

As you can see in the chart below, this has been a running theme throughout Amalfitano's career, with the winger losing possession through miscontrol (turnover) or through being tackles (dispossessed) an average 4.45 times per 90 minutes over the past five seasons.

Conclusion
The arrival of Amalfitano provides West Ham with something we needed: an attacking winger.

Stewart Downing has been in good form since the tail end of last season, but Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te have failed to set the world alight in their time with the club in the Premier League. Adding Amalfitano to the pool of wingers provides another option, and increases competition for places once again.

The wideman brings obvious attacking quality, and is very capable of both scoring and creating goals and chances for others. He may not always look for the easy option, but he provides a bit of excitement and unpredictability, to a sometimes pedestrian West Ham midfield.

This signing signals an end to one of the best transfer windows in memory for West Ham. So let's hope the new introductions can settle into the side quickly, and improve our fortunes on the pitch.

Welcome to West Ham United, Morgan Amalfitano!

New Signing: Alex Song

Alex Song

DOB: 09/09/1987

Age: 26

Position: Midfielder

Previous Club: Barcelona
Previous Division: La Liga

Transfer Date: 30/08/2014

Reported Fee: Loan

Analysis
If there was ever a transfer coup, this was probably it.

Alex Song has spent the 9 seasons playing Champions League football for Arsenal and Barcelona. He was recently touted as a rumoured transfer target for Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. He now plays for West Ham United.

This is a new type of signing for West Ham. In recent years, our transfer policy has been to look at the squad and see what needs replacing and improving. Out with the Matthew Taylor's, George McCartney's and Modibo Maiga's. In with the Cheikhou Kouyaté's, Aaron Cresswell's and Enner Valencia's.

This signing, however, isn't like that. Central midfield is an area that we are well stocked in, and probably our strongest position on paper. This signing is simply taking advantage of the availability of a top class player.

Comparison
As I've mentioned, Song's arrival sees the central midfield area turn into an incredibly competitive area of the side for West Ham. Mark Noble has been in very good form for a few years now, Cheikhou Kouyaté has had a wonderful introduction to Premier League life, and the likes of Mohamed Diamé, Ravel Morrison and Diego Poyet will all feel that they are good enough for first team football with West Ham.

So how do those players measure up to their new colleague?

Well, the two main areas that defensive midfielders in the modern game must be adept in, are ball retention and defensive capability. In terms of keeping the ball, there are few better than Alex Song.

Last season, he completed 92% of his passes, better than any West Ham player, including the new signings. His nearest competitor from last season's data is Kouyaté, who managed a 90% success, whilst the man that Song appears to be replacing, Mo Diamé, achieved just 79% success.

Song's passing success rate is all the more impressive when you consider the number of passes he played. Mark Noble traditionally has most ball for West Ham, and played 50.9 passes per 90 minutes last season. Song played a whopping 67.2.

Obviously the fact that Song was playing in Barcelona's famous tika-taka midfield machine should be considered, but his record shows that he wasn't out of place when he was on the field.

The other area in which Song needs to compete is in his defensive capability.

Last season, the Cameroonian put in more than 5 tackles per game in La Liga, completing 49% of them. This was a figure only bested by recent signing Diego Poyet's record for Charlton Athletic in the Championship.

Strengths
One of Song's main strengths in the holding midfield role, is his awareness and reading of the game. He is very capable of breaking down play and shielding his defence, and has proven this on many occasions.

Last season, one of Song's best defensive performances came away to Real Betis.

During that game, Song gave the perfect performance from a defensive midfield point of view, defending admirably, and providing a platform for his attacking colleagues to go an perform.

On the day, he managed a massive 6 interceptions, and was successful with all of his 8 tackles. He also completed 88% of his passes, allowing his team mates to get forward and secure a 4-1 victory.

The images below show Song's tackles (left) and interceptions (right) from the game.

http://la-liga.squawka.com/real-betis-vs-barcelona/

Another side to Song's game, is his creative passing. Though his team at Barcelona has yielded 0 assists and just 12 chances created, this is more a reflection on his role in the team than his ability.

In his final season for Arsenal, Song was known for his creative vision in place of departed captain Cesc Fabregas, and his pair of delightful chipped through balls for two Robin van Persie volleys will live long in the memory.

And Song was at it again for Cameroon in the World Cup, creating 5 chances in his two appearances. The image below shows the 3 chances that Song created in his side's opening game against Mexico.

http://world-cup-2014.squawka.com/mexico-vs-cameroon/

Weaknesses
Song's main weakness is widely regarded as his concentration.

In the past, he has had a tendency to have a temporary lapse and leave his team in the lurch. This seems to have been somewhat eradicated by his team in Spain, with 0 defensive errors in his 39 La Liga appearances.

However, this reputation has developed for a reason. Looking back at the last 5 seasons, Song has had a habit of losing possession by being a bit over adventurous, or by lacking awareness of his surroundings.

The chart below shows the amount of times Song lost possession via miscontrol (turnovers), was tackled (dispossessed) or had an opponent dribble past him (dribbled by) per 90 minutes.

As you can see, the numbers have declined over time, but it is hard to know whether that is a result of Barcelona's massive possessional dominance or that he has truly stamped silly mistakes from his game.

Conclusion
Alex Song is a player who improves the quality in our side dramatically. His presence in the team will significantly improve our ability to retain possession, and to create from the middle of the park.

His arrival does give us an interesting selection headache, but a good one.

Welcome to West Ham, Alex Song.

New Signing: Diafra Sakho

Diafra Sakho

DOB: 24/12/1989

Age: 24

Position: Striker

Previous Club: FC Metz
Previous Division: Ligue 2

Transfer Date: 14/08/2014

Reported Fee: £2.5m

Analysis
Apologies for the tardiness of this analysis - I've been away, and match previews and analysis took my attention immediately after my return.

Last week, Diafra Sakho became West Ham United's seventh summer signing. The Senegal international joins his compatriots Mohamed Diamé and Cheikhou Kouyaté in the West Ham squad following a successful few years with FC Metz in France.

As championed by the official West Ham site, Sakho's goals over the last couple of seasons have helped to fire Metz back to the top division of French football, and his overall haul of 47 goals in 124 games for the side that once provided us with Sebastian Schemmel has persuaded Sam Allardyce and his bosses to bring the striker to East London.

Unfortunately for us, Sakho has been playing in the lower leagues in France for the past couple of seasons. This means there is very little statistical information about the forward's game, and aren't able to take a detailed look at his performances and what he can bring to our side.

What we do know, is that Sakho has been clinical in recent times.

Last season, Diafra bagged an impressive 20 goals in 37 league appearances. This record places him as the joint highest scorer of all West Ham's available strikers in league football last year.

On top of this, the striker also racked up 4 assists for his team mates, meaning he has the third best minutes per goal involvement record of his new colleagues, losing out to only Enner Valencia's record at FC Pachuca.

Once Sakho has made a few appearances in the Premier League, I'll revisit the striker position and take a look at who should be leading the line for West Ham. Until then, I'm afraid this is all we have available.

So, for now, all I can do is wish Diafra Sakho the best, and welcome him to West Ham United!

New Signing: Carl Jenkinson

Carl Jenkinson

DOB: 08/02/1992

Age: 22

Position: Fullback

Previous Club: Arsenal

Previous Division: Barclays Premier League

Transfer Date: 31/07/2014

Reported Fee: Loan

Analysis
For the first time this summer, West Ham have brought in a player with a bit of recent Premier League experience. Arguably the one thing we've missed in our recruitment this summer is that little bit of Premier League know-how.

Although Jenkinson is still at the start of his career, he has 49 Premier League and Champions League appearances for Arsenal. This, coupled with the fact that the Harlow born England international doesn't have to even move house to join the team will hopefully allow the right back to bed straight in and perform for his new side.

There is an argument that right back is a position in which West Ham were already rather well stocked, with Guy Demel performing admirably last season, and Joey O'Brien offering a very capable back up. But it is expected that Jenkinson will come straight into the side on the opening day against Spurs, and will offer something to the side that his new teammates have yet to provide.

Comparison
The main area in which Jenkinson outstrips his new competitors is in his ability to hold onto possession. Obviously this seems to come naturally to any footballer who spends time in the general vicinity of London Colney under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger.

In his 14 Premier League appearances last season, Jenkinson had an overall pass completion rate of 91%. This is significantly better than both Demel & O'Brien, and would actually put the former Charlton Athletic man ahead of every single one of his new colleagues - with Ravel Morrison posting the best record of any West Ham player last season (86%).

But his ability to pass accurately paints far from the whole picture.

Not only did Jenkinson complete a far greater proportion of his passes than both Demel & O'Brien, he also attempted far more passes per 90 minutes than both too. Jenkinson played 43.7 passes per 90 minutes last season. For a bit of perspective, Mark Noble was the most frequent passer for the Hammers, with 49.7 passes per 90 minutes from the heart of midfield.

But perhaps the most telling area of all, is that Jenkinson hardly lost the ball  to an opposition player.

Demel was dispossessed (tackles) 0.82 times per 90 minutes, and recorded 0.58 turnovers (miscontrol) per 90 too. O'Brien was dispossessed 0.51 times, and had a rate of 0.81 turnovers per 90. Jenkinson, on the other hand, posted a rate of 0.56 turnovers per 90, and, incredibly, just 0.11 dispossessions per game.

This ability to keep hold of the ball demonstrates what an able footballer Carl Jenkinson is. The signing of Jenkinson (albeit for just a season) seems to tick two of the main boxes for signings this summer.

(a) he's only 22, so provides the youthful exuberance that is needed on the pitch
(b) his strength in possession suggests he will be able to contribute positively to the more expansive style of play we are (supposedly) striving for.

Strengths
I've already spoken in detail about on of Jenkinson's main strengths as a footballer, his ability to put his foot on the ball and play. However, the young right back has far more in his locker than that.

Jenkinson won 52% of his tackles in the Premier League last season, putting in 2.35 tackles per 90 minutes (more than Guy Demel). He also made 4.81 defensive actions (interceptions, blocks, clearances) per 90. Whilst this figure is lower than both Demel & O'Brien, it should be remembered that Jenkinson's Arsenal side tend to do a lot less defending than West Ham!

But the area I want to specifically focus upon is Jenkinson's engine.

Arguably, Jenkinson left his best performance of 2013/14 til last, in the final game against Norwich City. The fullback opened his professional goalscoring account to mark the day, but it was his all round attacking persistence that caught the eye.

You can see in the heat map below, that Jenkinson spent a good portion of his day tormenting the Norwich left back, using his pace (he's quick, by the way) to get forward time and again.

http://epl.squawka.com/norwich-city-vs-arsenal/

And, as mentioned previously, Jenkinson is very capable of using possession positively when he gets into such positions.

The image below shows the passes the England man attempted on the day. As you can see, he completed 87% of his passes, and the vast majority of those were short passes (indeed, just 5% of his passes last season were categorised as long balls).

Weaknesses
Despite his ability to bomb forward regularly, and his composure in possession, there are a couple of areas in which Jenkinson's game needs to improve.

Firstly, his crossing leaves a lot to be desired.

Last season, Jenkinson attempted 33 crosses (3.69 per 90 minutes) with just 5 reaching a team mate. This is a completion rate of just 15%. In comparison, Guy Demel attempted 2.22 crosses per 90 minutes, but managed an impressive completion rate of 31%.

It should be mentioned that all four of the chances Jenkinson created last season (2 assists) came from crosses from wide positions, suggesting that when they work, they really work. However, such a low success rate will need to be boosted for the fullback to have a positive attacking impact for West Ham.

The image below shows Jenkinson's attempted crosses against Norwich in that game mentioned above. Although he gave an excellent overall performance, his crossing still fell short of the rest of his performance, with none of his four attempted crosses hitting their target.

The other area of possible weakness in Jenkinson's game is his dribbling ability. 

Despite having a wonderful turn of pace in his arsenal, the young fullback managed a take on success rate of just 42% last season. In comparison, Guy Demel, who attempted the same amount of take ons per 90 as Jenkinson (2.12), managed a success rate of 53%, this despite being 11 years senior to the England international.

http://www.squawka.com/players/carl-jenkinson/

Conclusion
Having now taken a detailed look into Carl Jenkinson's performances from last season, I feel very confident in proclaiming this as a very positive signing for West Ham.

The turn of pace, ability on the ball, and defensive prowess all combine to make me think that we may have just made a serious upgrade on what was already a strong area of the side. And the fact that both of his new competitors at Arsenal will only be a year into their Gunners careers when he returns to North London next June, can leave West Ham fans feeling optimistic at our chances of retaining Jenkinson's services beyond this season.

As always, all that remains to say, is:

Carl Jenkinson, welcome to West Ham United!