Manuel Pellegrini has become the 17th West Ham United manager. The ex-Manchester City gaffer is known for his attacking-minded approach to the game and with the right backing from the board, the season ahead of us could very well be an exciting one….and us West Ham fans are well overdue one.
In my previous article I wrote about how thankful I am for David Moyes keeping us up as I believed we would have been relegated had we kept Bilic. However, on paper, it was still a strange season. Moyes is known for his defensive nature and even with his tactics, we still conceded 45 goals in the Premier League from the time he took over.
So Pellegrini has a lot of work to do and the first step is to sort out our defence. Personally, I believe we need at an absolute MINIMUM a new right back, another centre back and a defensive midfielder. Zabaleta is a good player but he does get done for pace and I would prefer the Argentine be the backup. Both Ogbonna and Rice solid throughout the season albeit a growing mistake or two from the youngster. However, having a third solid CB is a must as Reid is another player hit by the injury prone epidemic that seems to have hit our beloved club.
The area I would put most of my resources into is a new defensive midfielder. Everyone loves Noble but he is getting on a bit and he didn’t have any pace when he was young…let alone nowadays. Though the West Ham man is still great backup. Kouyate is a shadow of his former self and to get to the “next level” we need a better standard quality of player in our starting eleven, so selling him on to gain back some wages would be a smart move.
If we are able to sign the human equivalent of a tank to stand in front of our back four, that would allow our attacking players to play with more freedom. Pedro Obiang has a lot of potential should he keep fit next season and would be great cover for our man-tank….should we sign one.
This leaves us with the players further up the field. I think our attacking players have a lot of potential. We scored a commendable 48 goals, which was the 8th highest in the league. Let’s hope Pellegrini sees how Mario was starting to set into the Premier League and gets him back on a permanent deal. There has been a lot of talk about Antonio leaving and although I wouldn’t shed tears should he go, I would like to see him stay…unless we get a good deal, of course. I still feel he has a lot to offer us if he can stay fit.
We then move onto the likes of Lanzini, Arnautovic and Hernandez. These three could really cause a major threat to any team if you give them a chance. Give these three the freedom to play to their potential and I could see us banging in quite a few goals in the upcoming campaign. Though I wouldn’t say no to a marquee striker as well, of course.
Should we address the key areas that need sorting out, I feel Pellegrini has a great foundation to build a team who is entertaining to watch, picks up points while doing so and maybe is even able to take us to that next level we was promised all those years ago by the board. Come on you Irons!
Would love to hear your thoughts about the season ahead by leaving a comment below. Alternatively you can let me know on my twitter account @weloveyouwhu