Collins Or Tomkins

Last season wasn't only a good season for West Ham United concerning the 10th place finish but also for the defending duo of Winston Reid and James Collins. But with every positive comes a negative and with the consistently good form of Reid and Collins this made it increasingly difficult for James Tomkins to establish himself in the first team. Now the question is do we tamper with it for next season?

With Winston Reid's brilliant form and the fact that he picked up the 'Hammer of the year' award it would seem in-practical to think about leaving him out of the squad for next season, so this brings me to James Collins.

Initially Collins form wasn't the best and he seemed to struggle at times making costly errors against Swansea City and Reading. Although you cannot fault his dedication and he saved us on many occasions.

His FA Cup 3rd round performance against Manchester United in which he scored twice being a particular highlight of James Collins season.

With speculation growing that James Tomkins could be subject of a bid from Premier League rivals Newcastle United, is it possible that academy graduate Tomkins could be seen as surplus to requirements by Big Sam for the coming season? It would also seem that we have a growing interest in holding midfield/central defensive Ludovic Sane and Barcelona youngster Marc Brada. So Sam clearly has alternatives already in mind to strengthen that area.

I for one would like James to stay and Upton Park for the forceable future as he has the potential to be a top class England defender and at the young age of 24 he has many years still ahead of him. Last year he broke into the Great Britain Olympic football team, and although that could be seen as a good thing it hindered his club career something the player admitted himself. Tomkins form wasn't the best at times but once he settled down he didn't do too badly so his West Ham career is far from over and hopefully some rotation over the upcoming season will give James T his chance!

Now with that being said I'm a big believer of  'if it ain't broke don't fix it' and this is exactly the case.

Will rotation do more harm than good for the competent defensive partnership of Reid and Collins and with new personnel being touted could it prove too difficult for James Tomkins to really establish himself back as a regular West Ham player?