When I heard on twitter that Mauro Zarate was on his way to QPR on a loan until the end of the season, I couldn’t believe it. Like any normal West Ham fan on twitter; all I had do was wait for the word of Jack Sullivan (David Sullivan’s son) to either confirm or rubbish reports of the deal. He did indeed confirm that Zarate was leaving on loan to QPR in January. West Ham fans everywhere were shocked that we were loaning one of West Ham’s summer signings to a London and league rival. It looks like QPR will be paying for all of his £40,00 P/W wages and we’ll get a £500,000 loan fee.
Allardyce later responded to discontented fans everywhere, saying he wasn’t “good enough” to play for us. In the same Interview he criticised the reaction of Zarate compared to that of Carlton Cole, despite his similar situation stating that “Carlton Cole’s sitting on the bench, not playing, not coming on. He’s [Zarate] had probably more chances than Carlton Cole.” Herein maybe lies the issue. Has Mauro Zarate shown a poor attitude since being at West Ham and that’s why he’s being benched? Sam has certainly given hints to suggest it with these quotes.
When Zarate first signed it was to the excitement of many, especially considering his form for Velez Sarsfield (19 goals in 29 games) in the previous season. When considering Andy Carroll’s injury woes, Enner Valencia being unproven, Diafra Sakho only having played in lower leagues and Carlton Cole being, well, Carlton Cole, it seemed at least we had one dependable goal scoring striker on our books. However, since his debut goal, it hasn’t exactly gone swimmingly for Mauro.
Since Stewart Downing’s fantastic form this season whilst playing in Zarate’s usual No.10 role and at the tip of the diamond, Allardyce has maybe been correct in not selecting the Argentinian but you have to question his reaction and man management skills following his statements. Sam criticised Zarate’s reaction to his exclusion from the starting line-up, but had he used this to encourage him to improve, then maybe Mauro wouldn’t be off so early.
Having made an absolute dream start, scoring on his debut at Selhurst Park and throughout the whole game showing us that he could be a key player over the season, a large amount of fans were eager to see him in the next game. Zarate however disappointed against Southampton and away to Hull, the latter being a game in which Enner Valencia scored an outstanding goal and we introduced Alex Song who would immediately become a vital cog in the side. He was then dropped for the next two matches against Liverpool and Man Utd before showing his qualities against QPR, looking very lively in and around the box, and providing a very good cross in the first half for Valencia who headed wide. His shot later in the game led to the second goal and he was widely lauded for his contribution on social media. In the following Everton game he came on as a sub and scored a deflected goal but made little other impact in that game, nor in the two that followed against Newcastle and West Brom.
In the limited games Zarate had, though inconsistent, I personally thought he was useful for us in that he could cause problems and was fairly skilful. His statistics show a better goals, key passes and assists ratio per 90 minutes than £12m man Enner Valencia and in my opinion should have been given more of a chance.
When you play 2 strikers in a diamond formation as your best system in your highest performing season in (100 billion years), with your backup perennially injured and the other Carlton Cole (did I mention him?), surely Zarate could have at least been kept as another option just in case of a lack of form or injury.
Was Zarate’s professionalism as poor as Sam stated? Were his occasional flashes of brilliance this season more luck than the norm? Sam is in a better position to answer these than any of us are, but I hope he hasn’t got it wrong this time.
