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Football News: Team Review - West Ham United

Team Review - West Ham United
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Team Review - West Ham United

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League Position: 6th

 

Goalkeepers:

Lukasz Fabianski
Darren Randolph
David Martin

With Fabianski becoming more injury-prone by the year, and the two other goalkeepers in the squad at the veteran stage, the Hammers will have to look for a new first choice keeper sooner rather than later. If they can keep him fit though, Fabianski has matured into an excellent stopper since leaving Arsenal as 'Flappy-hand-ski' all those years ago. Age and injuries are the only worries surrounding him these days.

 


Defenders:

Issa Diop
Craig Dawson
Angelo Ogbonna
Winston Reid
Fredrik Alves
Arthur Masuaku
Aaron Cresswell
Vladimir Coufal
Ben Johnson
Ryan Fredericks

A very solid defensive group, the only weakness being on the left side. If they go to a back, Cresswell is too slow to get up and down and Masuaku too weak defensively. As a back three, they lack an alternative to Masuaku to cover him as Cresswell is lacking in the physical requirements for the role of wing-back. In a back three, he does a very good job on the left side of them, that suits him perfectly. But they do need an option for left full/wing-back.

 


Midfielders:

Declan Rice
Tomas Soucek
Conor Coventry
Mark Noble
Pablo Fornals
Manuel Lanzini

Rice and Soucek are an excellent base, but there is a lack of options and cover for Moyes if injury or suspension hits. With Noble clearly running out of legs, there is a real need to strengthen this part of the team. The worry is that Rice is probably the only really saleable asset and could be sacrificed to bring in other players. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion, they are unlikely to be able to replace him with anyone of the same level of quality.

 


Forwards:

Said Benrahma
Jarrod Bowen
Andriy Yarmolenko
Xande Silva
Michail Antonio

Like the midfield, there is a real lack of options and cover. The first choice team Moyes can put out is fine, but there is nothing after that, particularly in the centre forward slot, where Antonio has no one to bring in when he picks up his usual injuries. The Hammers risk not taking advantage of the good season they have had by not bringing in a forward to play up top. There is no way Antonio can play league, cups and Europa League without a break.

 


Manager: David Moyes

After a few years where his reputation went down the pan, Moyes has resurrected his career with West Ham. He has finally brought the Hammers the European football fans were promised when they left their old stadium. However, if it is not to be a one-off, he really needs the board to help him out with some players, as this is going to be a tough season with the extra Europa League games.

 


Conclusion:

If the first eleven are fit, they can give anyone a good game, but any injury and there is a serious drop off in quality. That has to be addressed with the European games they face, otherwise they are going to find the season a struggle. They just do not have the depth to cope with the extra games.

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Written by Tris Burke July 27 2021 17:28:23

 

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