It’s fair to say that West Ham United fans didn’t really enjoy the 2017-18 season.

The team looked disjointed and stale under former boss Slaven Bilic, while the Croat’s replacement David Moyes steered The Hammers away from relegation his style was often criticised.

The whole club was in a slump as the support moaned about the owners and the London side finished in thirteenth spot in the Premier League.

Now The Irons have went out and brought in experienced Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini.

The sixty-four year old has a wealth of experience having bossed in South America, Spain and China. He also spent three years at Manchester City, where he won a top flight title and two League Cups.

West Ham will hope that Pellegrini can bring that winning spirit to the London Stadium.

The club’s board have certainly backed the new gaffer in the transfer market as they’ve brought in seven new players so far this summer.

These are signings that should come in, make the squad stronger and fight for a place in the starting line-up.

Lukasz Fabianski will come in and fight with Adrian to become the club’s number one goalkeeper. Competition between goalies should give West Ham a strong and hungry starting goalkeeper.

Adrian is a fine shot-stopper but he can be fairly inconsistent at times.

Fabianski might have suffered from relegation with Swansea City last term but he still managed to impress in between the sticks. The Polish international managed nine clean-sheets and made 137 saves, that was more than Adrian and Hammers loanee Joe Hart last year. No keeper in the Premier League saved more penalties that Lukasz (3) did in the 2017-18 campaign.

Right-back Ryan Fredericks has arrived on a free transfer after a successful season with newly promoted Fulham. The defender was a reliable performer and made forty-seven appearances for the Championship play-off winners. He likes to get forward, has good close control and find a key pass. Last term he created seven assists for teammates.

Twenty-one year old defender Issa Diop is a very exciting talent, hence why West Ham had to part with at least £22m to secure his services. French under-21 international Issa is an athletic centre-back who likes a tackle. Made roughly 2.2 clearances per game in Ligue 1 last term and 3.8 clearances. He’s fairly comfortable with the ball at his feet and good in the air, in both boxes.

Fabian Balbuena, also known as ‘el Comandante’ in South America, is another new centre-back. The Paraguayan international was selected in the Brazilian league’s team of the year in 2017, after impressing in his debut season at Corinthians. Fabian is a defender who leads by example and one of strong character. He also has an eye for a goal.

The Hammers support will already know Jack Wilshere. Once England’s great hope, injuries have stalled Jack’s career and now he’s permanently departed from Arsenal. Last season, Wilshere showed glimpses that he could still be a dynamic midfielder if he can stay fit. He’s composed in possession and can deliver key passes that unlock tight defences. He had an 86% passing success rate last term and hit five assists.

It’s all about keeping Wilshere fit, if The Irons can do that then they’ll have signed a superb talent. The fact he was a free transfer will be the icing on the cake. The move could just be the thing that brings his career back to life.

He arrived stating his childhood love for the club:

“I’ve got good memories of my childhood supporting West Ham, watching them at Upton Park.”

The London side have also splashed out €20m to purchase Andriy Yarmolenko from Borussia Dortmund. The forward struggled to adapt to the Bundesliga style but Pellegrini will hope to get the talismanic figure that shined for Ukraine and Dynamo Kiev.

Andriy is another creative talent that can create chances for other attackers. He’s also capable of cutting inside and firing a shot a way. He has neat skills, a good first touch and can be very direct but the question will be can he find his feet in the Premier League?

The Irons then broke their transfer record when they signed Brazilian maverick forward Felipe Anderson from Lazio.

Anderson could be that maestro that takes up the hero mantra once held by Paulo Di Canio and Dimitri Payet. He’s full of tricks, likes dribbling past defenders and can score as well as create for others. Should be a player that gets Hammers fans out of their seats and they’ll love that!

It was thought that he could be more consistent but West Ham supporters will forgive him any defensive frailties if he excites them when he attacks proposition defences.

All in all, I think West Ham United have recruited well this summer and that includes the managerial appointment.

We’ll just have to wait and see if the Chilean coach can get his new signings to settle in quickly and if he can get the team to gel together and compete for a top half finish.

He will also have to fix some underlying issues that remain at the club and were highlighted by the injuries that will keep Winston Reid and Andy Carroll for the first three months of the season.

Posted on July 22nd, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article