Why Pedro Obiang is my Hammer of the Year

It’s coming to the end of a stressful season for West Ham. Hopefully Premier League status is secure, and it’s time to celebrate the best of the season.

Hammer of the Year is a surprisingly sought after award. The best player doesn’t always receive the award, because the West Ham fans love the effort shown by players just as much, if not more, as the quality the player has produced.

For that reason I believe, possibly biasedly, that this award is special. It recognizes possibly unsung heroes that the fans love. Unfortunately Dimitri Payet is not around to defend his title, but there is more than one worthy winner. But the standout candidate for me is midfield dynamo Pedro Obiang.

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Top Players

In my opinion, there are only four players who fit the criteria for being considered. The criteria being: Must play majority of games, be an influential player when doing so and put effort in when everything else seems lost.

In my opinon, the three other players who have done that are Winston Reid, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini. All three are viable options in the race, but I think Obiang pips them to the post. Not by much, as without the other three the club would be in a very bad shape as well.

Obiang had another obstacle to overcome, and that was the fact his first season at the club he was incredibly underutilized. Antonio took a while to take his place but excelled, whereas Obiang was not considered by many to be a mainstay of the first XI. However this season his commitment to the team, work rate and injections of quality at the right moment have pushed him to the top of my list.

For me his quality is perfectly displayed in these two clips

In that game he showed his ability at the sharp end, but look at the workrate here…

Forgone conclusion?

Not at all! Go on to the West Ham site and vote, because any one of these players is a worthy winner. There are also other categories such as Goal of the season and team performance, which we will also cover here.

Next: Fernandes: West Ham's best midfielder?

Also if you have any other players you think should get a mention, let us know below! Include reasoning otherwise what’s the point? Hopefully no-one thinks it’s Gokhan Tore anyway…