Hammertime: January can't come soon enough for West Ham

West Ham are in a bad way. A really bad way and relegation looms.

Though West Ham are out of the relegation zone right now being only one point ahead of Hull City simply isn’t good enough. It seems odd but at this point it looks like a surgical infusion of cash will be needed to rectify many of the problems in the squad.

The defense is inconsistent to say nothing of the goalkeeping. The midfield is lacking in a lot of ways and quite frankly the strike force is entirely missing. West Ham need a lot of help and they need a lot of help soon. For West Ham January cannot come soon enough.

Is Bilic To Blame?

Many people are talking about firing Slaven Bilic. That’s understandable. He’s done a terrible job thus far in the season. However questions remain about whether or not he or the players are more at fault for what is going on with the team. In my opinion this season is more the fault of a terribly under performing squad than an underperforming manager. It’s true that Bilic hasn’t been great but none of the players have covered themselves in glory either.

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The issue with firing a manager when the players are also playing poorly is that it allows the players to relax. No one is holding them accountable. They have underperformed and essentially avoided the blame for it. Secondly, you need to think if there are that many managers who are better and within West Ham’s reach.

Not a lot of men are signing up to right sinking ships these days. That and Bilic is a good coach maybe not great when it comes to making signings but he has a good record as a coach in both international and in domestic play.

So the truth is unless West Ham can sign someone like Roberto Mancini or Frank De Boer (who Inter fired way too early) then the correct move is to stick with Bilic and give him a better squad. With the money coming into the Premier League these days it’s not unbelievable to think that West Ham could possibly spend about 50-70 million to stay in the league.

The financial reward is lucrative enough that staying in the league should be put at a premium. That said we’ll go with the 50 as it’s the lower and more conservative number and try and solve some of these problems.

The Issues

The defense is terrible. Winston Reid has been OK so far this year if we forget his idiotic sending off against Tottenham and Kouyate is turning into a truly talented football and Ogbanna isn’t far behind them statistically. The problem is of the three not one is suited to the three man defense that has helped West Ham improve.

Of the three Kouyate seems to be the weak link in the group. Statistically if compared with his two compatriots as well as Toby Alderweireld and Cesar Azpilicueta (picked because Tottenham and Chelsea are the two best defenses in the league at this point) West Ham’s players do not compare. For a three man defense to work each player needs to be equally as functional in the attacking sphere as the defensive one. They are all too much brawn and too little brains.

Has The Formation Chance Really Worked?

It does appear West Ham have improved slightly in the 3-4-3 which is why I understand sticking to it but they’re still not perfect. Two players that could improve this are Lyon’s Mouctar Diakhaby and Sporting Lisbon’s Sebastian Coates.

Diakhaby is a young player but would be useful both today and in future. At 6 foot 4 inches and with incredible grace on the ball he could be the glue that binds the other two defenders together. If his youth is deemed too much of a risk for a team trying to stay out of the Premier League basement then Coates is the better option. He has experience in the Premier League at Sunderland and Liverpool.

Could January Really Save West Ham?

Let’s assume West Ham walk away with only Coates in this transfer window. That’s a net spend of 15 million so far. 35 million left to solve some truly severe problems. The midfield. Oh dearie me. What to say about it? It’s terrible? It’s strange? It mainly lacks industry and invention. This is where the side can be saved in my belief. It needs to be restructured. The change should go from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2.

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By putting Payet in the middle it will free him up to do what it is he does best. Get on the ball and make havoc. Having the two defensive minded players behind him will then add the solidarity that West Ham are lacking. This will add a lot of simple cohesion that West Ham don’t have. Arbeloa should then start getting some matches out wide on the right. He’s a natural wing back and his experience at the top level is absolutely necessary in the emotionally draining relegation battle.

We Need To Talk About Goals

Finally the stiker issue is probably the biggest one. West Ham need to buy. Zaza is useless and Ayew just hasn’t recovered yet. If the team had been playing better up until this point it would have been easier to give him time to find his feet. Unfortunately, that can’t happen right now. Both Daniel Sturridge and Saido Berahino are available. Sturridge will be the more expensive one. He’ll cost about 15 to 18 million pounds.

With his history and the knowledge that Liverpool want him out West Ham shouldn’t pay more than that. It represents a profit for Liverpool and a good deal for West Ham. Berahino’s contract is almost up and so he’s rumored to be available at 5 million pounds. Between the two of them West Ham are adding a potential of 20-26 goals in the second half of the season especially with Payet freed up to be creative.

Next: Mark Noble No Longer A First XI Player

West Ham need to line up the new changes in the new year otherwise last year will be going down with them.

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Hammertime: January Can’t Come Soon Enough

By Barrett Rouen | Nov 23, 2016