Monday 13 October 2014 18:08, UK
West Ham United assistant Neil McDonald believes the club are working with their 'best squad' since Sam Allardyce took charge.
The Upton Park outfit have invested steadily since Allardyce inherited the managerial reins in the summer of 2011.
Those funds have been put to good use, with further quality additions made during the recent transfer window.
The likes of Enner Valencia, Aaron Cresswell, Alex Song, Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho were added to the ranks, and they have helped to raise the bar another notch in east London.
I think this is our best squad. We have been here three years and in the third year your team should be a lot stronger and I think that is proving to be right at the moment.
McDonald said in the Newham Recorder: “The new players have come in and settled well which is a real bonus.
“I think this is our best squad. We have been here three years and in the third year your team should be a lot stronger and I think that is proving to be right at the moment.
“We have great competition for places. Whoever the manager picks, it is going to be a good team and if a player gets in, he will keep his place if he is playing well.”
He added: “It creates good problems because everyone has to play well and consistently to keep hold of the shirt.
“If they don’t, it is not a question of them thinking a young kid is not going to take their place, behind them are experienced professionals.
“Mark Noble has dropped out because he has a calf injury and Alex Song has come in and Mark must be thinking ‘am I going to get my position back?’
“Cheikhou Kouyate took the place by storm when he first came, now he has dropped out through injury, is he going to get his place back?
“It is a fantastic situation to be in. It does create problems in trying to keep everybody happy. That is a situation we have dealt with in the past wherever me and Sam have been.
“It is a lovely problem to have rather than last season when we struggled because we didn’t have enough players.”
