With the opening day fast approaching, Outside90’s Evan Morgan Grahame previews West Ham United’s 2016-17 campaign.
Last season was a tearful farewell to a treasured past – this time around West Ham will hope to stride purposefully into a bold new future. As Upton Park is raised to the ground, the Olympic Stadium is filling up, and with a reported 50,000 season tickets sold, the Hammers have high hopes for 2016-17. The squad is deep and talented, the manager is beloved and thriving in the Premier League, and, in case you had not heard, they have got Dimitri Payet.
But high hopes alone will not carry a team through a campaign, and Slaven Bilic still has some work to do to avoid a bout of second-season syndrome.
Off-season Recruits
So far, West Ham have added thoughtfully and frugally to the squad. Firstly, Manuel Lanzini, a sparkling success story on loan last season, was secured permanently. Sofiane Feghouli and Håvard Nordtveit were secured on free transfers, from Valencia and Borussia Mönchengladbach respectively. The latter two additions replace the out-going Victor Moses and Alex Song, loanees from last season who have returned to their parent clubs. Gokhan Tore was also brought in on loan, with a view to purchase at season’s end. A striker is still very much the priority – Carlos Bacca, Alexandre Lacazette and Mario Gomez are all potential targets, with bids made for at least two of these players – as is reinforcement at both fullback positions.
Strengths
As it stands, West Ham appear as impressively stocked across the attacking-midfield as any team in the league. Payet, Feghouli, Tore, Lanzini, Michail Antonio, Enner Valencia and – although he is likely to leave before the transfer period closes – Diafra Sakho can all excel alongside current first choice striker Andy Carroll. Tore is untested, but Feghouli has already stirred up the faithful with a rousing display in the Europa League qualifying rounds last week.
Carroll showed last season that when – and this is crucial – he is fit, he can ably lead the line for a team with the sort of lofty ambitions that the Hammers aspire to. But his injury history demands that another striker be brought in to, at the very least, support the Geordie.
Weaknesses
The defence was one of West Ham’s biggest strengths last season, even with a mini-crisis forcing Bilic into some on-the-fly repairs. Gabriel Ogbonna enjoyed a fine maiden season in England, and James Collins battled as he always does. But this time there is a dire need for reinforcements – James Tomkins was sold to Crystal Palace, a vital, versatile part of last season’s depth. Aaron Cresswell – who has missed only two league games for West Ham over the last two seasons – was injured badly in a friendly last month and will be out for up to four months. With the Antonio-as-right-back experiment still yielding mixed results, and Sam Byram playing out of position on the left-flank, it is clear that at least two defenders need to be brought in before the season gets going.
Key Player – Dimitri Payet
Having shrugged off the ‘inconsistent’ label with two consecutive stellar seasons, and a super European Championships tacked on to boot, Payet is looking to make it three on the trot. The Frenchman appears to be surging into the most productive period of his career, a relatively late bloomer admittedly, but one that West Ham have hitched their wagon to without hesitation. The club’s barren spell halfway through last season coincided with Payet’s month long injury lay-off, so it is clear already just how much the Frenchman offers. With more creativity around him, he looks set to twinkle even more beautifully in 2016-17.
Prediction
In a season likely to be much stronger than the last, with new managers and new players flocking into the league en masse, West Ham will find it tough to better their 15-16 points total. So much depends on the transfer business that will be done in the next few weeks, but if the squad gaps can be filled then another top seven finish is firmly within reach.
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