A 7th placed finish in the last season gave Slaven Bilic’s West Ham a terrific start to their life in the Olympic Stadium this season. But the Hammers were unable to start the season strongly and were knocked out of the Europa League in the play-offs at the start of the season. They are a squad that are low on confidence and are currently placed 17th in the points table with 10 points from 10 games. The squad at Bilic’s disposal has far more quality than their league position shows and there is something genuinely wrong at the club at the moment.
A team combination involving Mark Noble, Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio is something that most Premier League teams will be afraid of. It has mettle in the midfield, strength and creativity in attack and all in all, some thrilling quality around the field. However, they have lost 6 of the 10 games this season and have scored just 10 goals so far this season. Their problems at the back have seen them concede 19 making them one of the worst defenses in the league. But what is actually wrong with the Hammers?
Let’s start with the lack of goals up front. Bilic spent loads of money in the transfer window on a number of players and added the likes of Sofiane Feghouli, Andre Ayew and Simone Zaza to his attack. Ayew and Carroll were expected to be first choice strikers for the club this season but injuries to both players has seen Slaven Bilic change his entire setup this season. With not much happening up ahead, the manager was forced to use Michail Antonio as a striker and with Payet and Lanzini behind him as the front three. This trio has a very good balance about it and is easily an exciting prospect for the Hammers. Antonio started the season in goal scoring form while Payet has been constant in the middle of the park.
However, that was never going to be enough as West Ham failed to dominate games like they did in the previous season and were not able to get their front three in action in dangerous areas enough as they failed to get hold of the ball in the midfield. Mark Noble, the anchor in the midfield for the Hammers, had a mediocre start to the season and that has had its effect on the defense of the side that was starting to look less than ordinary.
The run of 4 unbeaten games saw Bilic turn to a 3-man defense with Noble and Obiang in the midfield. Kouyate, Reid and Ogbonna were used as the defensive shield while the front three remained the same. This allowed the Hammers to get some grip in the midfield during games and gave them some joy in front of goal. But the game against Everton once again showed that the squad still has plenty of issues which need to be worked upon.
As if that was not enough, West Ham have also been error prone at the back since the start of last season. They have now committed 17 errors that led to direct goals since August last season and that is something that the manager is yet to work on. The previous season saw the Hammers dominate games and get results away from home. But this season, they have failed to find the right combination and lost their identity which has affected their game overall. Now that Ayew is back, Bilic might be looking to use a different combination that might work but at the moment, West Ham needs some serious revamping if they are to avoid a late relegation scrap this year.
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