It has been a fairly erratic start to the season for West Ham United this year.

The Hammers have enjoyed two fine away days as they beat both Arsenal and Liverpool. In those two games West Ham scored five goals and managed to keep two cleansheets.

But sandwiched in between those two illustrious victories saw ‘The Irons’ disappointingly lose to both Leicester City and Premier League new-boys AFC Bournemouth at the Boleyn Ground.

Six points in those opening four games is actually a pretty decent record, many are just surprised that they came in the away fixtures against tougher opponents.

New gaffer Slaven Bilic is still trying to find his feet in the English Premier League and decide on his best team.

The Croatian manager has brought in various new recruits this summer in a hope to get a squad that is capable of getting into the top ten.

On the final day of this summers transfer window four more new faces came in, adding to the eight others that joined earlier in the window.

Looking at the list of newcomers, it seems like Bilic has done well with his purchases.

Firstly I’d imagine that George Dobson and Stephen Hendrie are more buys for the future than this season.

Darren Randolph is an experienced goalie who can be a reliable number two behind current keeper Adrian. Talking of Adrian, he’s a big fan favourite and I also think the Spanish goalkeeper is one of the most under-rated performers in the English top flight. Last term he kept an impressive nine cleansheets in 3420 minutes.

Two players, Alex Song and Carl Jenkinson, who spent the past year on loan with the Hammers have returned for another season. Both did well for the London club in 2014/15 and will be hoping for even better stints this time around.

Right-back Jenkinson offers great balance to the team with Aaron Cresswell excelling on the left. Both can get forward and trackback with gusto too. Although it should be noted that Carl missed both away victories this term and was sent-off against Bournemouth. Still in the long run I think he’ll have another stellar season with West Ham.

Alex Song has arrived back from FC Barcelona. Last term was a bit of a mixed one for the Cameroonian midfielder. During the early months of his loan deal, Song dictated a lot of the tempo for the Hammers and it was successful. He saw a lot of the ball and played some majestic passes from deep positions. Then he kind of fell away in the second half of the season, but in fairness that could be said for most of the team. West Ham fans will be desperately hoping that Song can reproduce last seasons early form. On his day, Alex can be one of the league’s best performers.

Another midfielder has come in, in the form of Pedro Obiang. The Spaniard who likes a tackle and a pass was the man of the match in the win over Liverpool. Obiang had a good season with Sampdoria last term and will hope to progress in England. With the impressive Cheikhou Kouyaté also involved in the middle of the park, United look very equipped in that department. Sixteen year old Reece Oxford was amazing against the Gunners but I think he’ll be used sparingly from now on. While club captain Mark Noble offers more of a goal threat going forward compared to the rest.

Central defender Angelo Ogbonna is a curious case. Heralded when he broke onto the scene with Torino. The strong, powerful centre-back won a move to Italian giants Juventus for a €13m fee. The Cassino native has ten caps for Italy. But after two full seasons at Juve, it was decided he could move on for €2m less than the Old Lady bought him for. He has great attributes and should be the perfect defender, yet there seems to be continued doubt hanging over his head. The six foot three Italian seems prone to making mistakes and failing to possess the mental strength to get over those mistakes. Was hauled off after just thirty-five minutes against Bournemouth, although was strong the following week in the 3-0 win over Liverpool. If the twenty-seven year old can cut out his unassured displays then he could be a hit for the Irons.

It is worth noting that the Hammers have one of the best defenders in the league in Winston Reid. The Kiwi centre-back has high concentration skills and can be as solid as a rock in the bigger games. The versatile James Tomkins is no slouch either!

Not much was known about twenty-two year old Argentine attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini before he made his season long loan switch from Al Jazira. Made a big impression in his full league debut at Anfield. He took his goal well in the third minute after he was left unmarked at the back post. The youngster then battled away and his pressing caused Dejan Lovren into making a mistake and Lanzini laid the ball off to Mark Noble to put away a second. On that performance Wet Ham should be thankful they’ll have chance to make the loan deal permanent at the end of the season,

One of Bilic’s best buys in my opinion has to be Dimitri Payet. I’m not just basing that on his opening month in England, although he was terrific in the two league wins. But as many Ligue 1 watchers know, Payet is a creative handful. Slaven seems to understand that, by giving the French international a bit of a free-role in the team and it has paid dividends. He has already grabbed a goal and assist this term for the Hammers but that’s to be expected as he scored seven and created sixteen for Olympique Marseille last season. Really could be that Paulo Di Canio figure in this West Ham team.

Three more along with Song joined the pool of players on deadline day.

Victor Moses is already a veteran of the Premier League. The forward can be a bit of a handful but still needs to add consistency to his game. His versatility could be a huge plus for the Hammers management team.

£7m buy Michail Antonio could prove to be a real gem, if he can make the step up from the Championship. Showed superb form at both Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest. The winger should be hungry to finally prove himself in England’s top division. Last season the twenty-five year old shone at the City Ground, where he scored fourteen league goals and set up a further twelve for teammates. Will hope to have a bigger impact than fellow winger Matt Jarvis who failed to truly settle at Upton Park and departed on loan to Norwich City on deadline day.

On paper West Ham have a good array of strikers to pick from with Diafra Sahko, Mauro Zarate, Andy Carroll and Enner Valencia all on the clubs books. But those hit-men have been hampered due to injuries, lack of form or police arrests.

That has seen Bilic purchase fellow Croat Nikica Jelavic from Hull City. The two worked together previously with the Croatian national team and the coach will know exactly what he’ll get from Jela. A proven scorer in the Premier League and a warrior who will give his all for the claret and blue shirt. Holds the ball up well, decent in the air and can rough up opposing defenders. Could be the bargain buy of the summer.

When you add these new faces to the current squad, West Ham look pretty decent.

Obviously the main target is to improve and stay in the Premier League for next season, when they finally move into the Olympic Stadium.

But the potential is there for a comfortable top ten finish, as long as Slaven Bilic can quickly find his preferred team, keep everyone happy and believe in his ideas. The fact that the Croatian likes to give his team an attacking ethos will cheer up many an Irons fan.

Clubs like Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Swansea City and Stoke City have also seen their sides vastly improve this past month. Everton will hope for a better campaign this year, while last seasons surprise package Southampton will be desperate to show that they are still a strong outfit.

So a top half finish for the Hammers isn’t guaranteed by any means but if everything comes together for Bilic and his team then I cannot see why they shouldn’t be placed in the top ten come May!

Posted on September 7th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article