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West Ham’s Spear tip of Attack: Striker Competition for Irons

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 08: Javier Hernandez of West Ham United celebrates with team mate Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United after scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on April 8, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 08: Javier Hernandez of West Ham United celebrates with team mate Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United after scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on April 8, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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West Ham has an invigorated Marko Arnautovic and a happy Chicharito for striker options this season, but will newcomer Lucas Perez or youngster Toni Martinez push for regular minutes?

Safe to say all West Ham fans can say at least one thank you to David Moyes for waking up the beast that is Marko Arnautovic. Bought originally to be the wide player on the left finally replacing Dimitri Payet, Arnautovic has been unstoppable since switching to striker under Moyes in December of last season.

Marko’s first goal for West Ham came after this switch to centre-forward under Moyes in West Ham’s shocking 1-0 win against Chelsea. He continued to roll after that amassing in 11 goals and 6 assists in 21 games. His form at striker made him one of the most efficient Premier League strikers to close out the 2018 half of the season.

Arnautovic has kept his form through the offseason scoring 3 goals and 2 assists in his last five international friendlies for Austria. As well, Arnautovic scored 5 goals in six preseason matches for West Ham. He’ll be West Ham’s main man in a 4-2-3-1 formation undoubtedly, as well as in any duo striker formations, but who else is challenging for a striker position?

Coming off of a remarkable World Cup performance for Mexico, Chicharito returned to West Ham in time for their last preseason match. Of course, as one would predict the reliable striker scored West Ham’s only and winning goal of the match off of a low crossed ball from Cresswell against Angers SCO.

Chicharito is the archetypal fox in the box player and will score West Ham goals when he plays. He managed just 8 goals in 28 games last season but only played a full 90 minutes nine times, and above 60 minutes 16 times with 12 of those extended appearances coming under Bilic, showing his underutilization. It was seemingly true, the man who butted heads with him at Manchester United, David Moyes, kept his grudge and benched him at West Ham.

Despite Moyes’ efforts to stymy Chicharito, he has returned to West Ham invigorated under the new management style of Pellegrini. He has rebuked the rumors that he wanted away from the team and has even stated that the ambition for West Ham this season should be, at the minimum, to reach the top six and get European football next season.

In a one striker system Chicharito won’t likely be a starter however, Pellegrini does like to use two strikers in 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 formations. Chicharito is a player who thrives on playing off of another forward and has had success with Arnautovic alongside him last season.

Despite the chemistry between the established strikers at West Ham, the new man on the block from Arsenal could have something to say about playing time at striker for West Ham. A deadline day bargain at a rumored £4 million fee, Lucas Perez brings Premier League experience and a solid 2017/18 track record with him to East London, not to mention more competition.

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Out on loan at Deporta de La Coruna of La Liga last season, Perez scored 8 goals and 6 assists in 35 games. His conversion rate in Spain wasn’t outstanding however, only Lionel Messi created more chances in La Liga last season than Perez edging him out 87 to 79.

Playing in just 21 games for Arsenal, Perez scored 7 goals and added 5 assists. Arsenal fans seem to be gutted that West Ham got him so cheap, as they are seemingly losing out on an elite finisher who didn’t get a fair chance to make an impression at their club. And as is sometimes true, fan reaction to a player move can sometimes give the most honest evaluation of the deal.

Outside of these three proven strikers, Toni Martinez may factor into the plans for Pellegrini next season. The 21-year-old Spanish striker took his talents to LaLiga2 last season on a loan spell at Real Valladolid, helping the team gain promotion to Spain’s top flight of football.

He played in 10 games on this loan spell and did score one goal, however, his ability to produce outside of Premier League 2 has been a large cause of concern. Maybe it is an indictment on the quality of play in PL2, but Martinez has a goal to game ratio of 19 goals to 24 games for West Ham’s squad in that league, while Martinez can’t recreate that skill on any loan spells he’s endured.

Martinez scored the tying goal in West Ham’s preseason Betway Cup match against FSV Mainz to send the game to penalties. At this point, he may be subject to another loan deal where he can hopefully put together his skill with higher levels of play outside of PL2. Should he stay at West Ham he’ll have to capitalize on sparingly low minutes, as he has virtually no shot at unseating the big three West Ham boast at the striker position.

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Leaving out the injured Andy Carroll, West Ham have surprisingly talented depth in the striker department for the 2018/19 season. It appears to be Arnautovic’s job to lose as the first choice option, but Chicharito and Perez are both clinical finishers and should have an exciting race to play up top alongside Arnautovic this season.