West Ham’s summer of restructuring continued last week with the acquisition of left-back Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich Town. The 24-year-old arrives on a five-year contract and follows Mauro Zarate and Cheikhou Kouyaté to the club as Sam Allardyce looks to improve upon a series of displays which saw the Hammers finished in 13th spot in 2013/14, just seven points clear of the drop zone:
Discussing his move with the club’s official website, the defender is hoping to continue the exploits which made him such a valuable asset at both ends of the pitch for the Portman Road outfit last term:
“I’m very excited to have signed here. It’s a massive club and I can’t wait to get ready for the season ahead. When I knew West Ham were interested it was an easy decision to make! Everyone knows it’s a massive club and a couple of years down the line they’ll have the new stadium too…It’s everyone’s ambition to play in the Premier League, and to play in front of 35,000 week in week out is a dream come true for me…I like to think I’m a modern day full back. I like to attack, try to get balls in the box and if I get a couple of goals or assists that’s a little bonus, but as a defender it’s defend first.”
The History
A product of the Tranmere Rovers youth academy, the highly-rated defender started his career with the Merseyside club back in November 2008. After playing 27 times over his first couple of campaigns, Cresswell established himself as a key player for Tranmere in 2010/11 and featured in 43 of their 46 League One games – having produced six goals and seven assists for the club, he was snapped up by Ipswich in the summer of 2011.
Cresswell handled the step up to the Championship seamlessly. During his time with the Tractor Boys, he played 132 league matches – missing just six games – and, although he was voted the club’s Player of the Year in his debut campaign, there’s no doubt that his most attacking displays arrived last term. The defender’s first two years at Portman Road delivered four goals and 10 assists but in 2013/14, he stepped up considerably – two goals and 14 assists earning him a place in the Championship Team of the Season and convinced Big Sam to splash the cash.
The Prospects
Given his recent record at Ipswich, Cresswell’s arrival to the Premier League is likely to bring him onto Fantasy managers’ radars for the season ahead. After his side struggled in the final third of the pitch in 2013/14, Allardyce has been tasked with introducing a more attacking style of play and the pacey left-back certainly affords the Hammers a more dynamic option down the flank.
One point of note is that Cresswell was handed the majority of set-pieces and corners by his former club, with his dead-ball delivery fundamental to those 14 assists last term. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be quite so prominent for West Ham but if Big Sam grants him a fair share, the 24-year-old could be poised for an impressive first campaign in the top-flight.
Allied with Cresswell’s attacking forays and delivery from out wide is a resilience that produced 14 clean sheets for the Hammers last term – only five teams managed more. Bearing in mind that West Ham’s defenders served up a combined three goals and not a single assist over the entirety of the previous campaign, it certainly suggests that the former Ipswich man could be the best route into Allardyce’s backline, with the likes of George McCartney and Joey O’Brien falling down the pecking order as a result of his arrival.
With home games against Spurs and Southampton supplemented by trips to Palace and Hull in the opening four, Big Sam’s new-look side certainly have the chance to get their campaign off to a promising start. A cost of £5.2m in the Sky Sports game is very enticing and providing he’s as reasonably priced across the Fantasy games, Cresswell may well find himself subject to early investment, with the upcoming pre-season friendlies likely to indicate his chances of grabbing a share of dead-ball situations for the season ahead.
