Discover why Gokhan Tore might not be right for West Ham
Slaven Bilic wants to bring Gokhan Tore to West Ham, but should he?
West Ham certainly need to find some more attacking talent to supplement the likes of Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini this summer and Gokhan Tore is a bright, attacking player. That doesn’t mean that the Turkish star is the answer to the Hammers’ prayers.
Slaven Bilic has gone on record with his admiration for the current Besiktas star and makes no bones about wanting him on the Hammers’ squad next season. The West Ham boss has experience working with Tore in the past and certainly knows the ins and outs of Tore’s game. That’s why I am surprised that he has zeroed in on him as a player to fit in with the current West Ham squad.
It isn’t a question of whether or not Tore is talented enough to play in the Premier League. His experience in Germany, Turkey and even in England as a youth make it pretty clear that he has the requisite ability. My issue with him signing with West Ham is that he’s a horrible fit to play alongside Lanzini and Payet in Bilic’s attacking midfield trio.
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First off, let me state that I’m making the assumption that the only way Tore would come to West Ham would be as a starter. He’s got a deal at Besiktas which runs through 2019 so he wouldn’t be a cheap transfer. The Hammers wouldn’t spend the kind of funds it would take to bring Tore in on a reserve player. Nor would the Turkish international sanction a move that saw him placed on the bench.
Given that he’d only come to West London as a starter, you have to view how he’d fit in with the team’s current attacking midfield. Payet and Lanzini are both terrific offensive players who would benefit from the speed of Tore out on the wing. Offensively, the trio would have every opportunity to gel together quite nicely. Unfortunately, they’d have to play some defense as well.
That’s the part of Tore’s game that I see as a poor fit for Bilic’s club. Neither Payet or Lanzini is exactly renowned for their defensive prowess. That means the third member of that attacking midfield trio needs to have some measure of defensive competence. Those who have watched Tore over the years identify him as a talented offensive player, but question his lack of defensive work rate.
Putting him with Payet and Lanzini would put too much stress on the Hammers’ defense than they could bare. That’s not a shot at West Ham’s defensive setup, it’s just the reality of a 4-2-3-1 formation. To be a successful Premier League defense in that formation, you need at least one of the attacking midfield trio to put in a solid defensive shift week after week. Having Tore, Payet and Lanzini on the field together would leave West Ham too exposed on a weekly basis.
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Gokhan Tore is a talented player who could certainly help West Ham on the offensive end. Unfortunately for Slaven Bilic, he’d jeopardize them too much from a defensive standpoint to bring him to the Hammers.