West Ham squad depth issues highlighted by Zabaleta retirement warning

West Ham’s evergreen right-back Pablo Zabaleta is reportedly looking at retiring at the end of the season. Whilst he is good enough to continue, he may well call it quits. Our squad depth is now a big issue.

Whilst West Ham spent a lot of money over the summer, it was noted that we still have issues in quality in depth. After a run of midfield injuries and suspensions highlighted that particular area, it’s not alone. Now with news that Zabaleta is apparently considering hanging up his boots at the end of the season, our defence is called into question. Again.

We had a previous article covering a move by Zabaleta away from the side in the summer, but him retiring raises a new issue. With him continuing to play it seemed like we were a good option for him to play. If he’s retiring it would be very hard for us to keep him in a playing role. There are strong rumours he’s been offered a coaching place with Pep back at city. But away from us trying to match that, it is an issue for our squad.

Zabaleta is our best full back. Not just on the right hand side, but on the left as well. He is experienced, still mobile and sensible on the ball. He is a perfect addition to the growing centre back pairing between Diop and Balbuena, assisting their progress in a new league. Whilst Fredericks has the raw ingredients, he lacks the refinement, class and importantly the leadership qualities.

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I would be a huge fan of any deal to get the Argentine in as part of the coaching squad, because he brings so much to the team outside of his footballing ability. But it won’t change the fact we don’t have an adequate replacement for him. Or for other key players around the team.

If Arnie picked up a serious injury we’d be truly screwed. None of the other strikers we have can play the same dynamic game as him or threaten in as many ways. Carroll has the aerial threat, Hernandez the finishing and Perez the passing game. Arnie is a combination of it all and we’re very thin on like for like replacements.

Whilst I’m a big fan of youth involvement I am very conscious of throwing them into the fray before their ready. Nathan Holland could step in for Anderson, but I wouldn’t want him under the pressure of having to perform. We need them coming into a good team in good conditions. Not fighting to keep us up as Pellegrini tries to keep a first XI together.

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It would be hard to sort in January, but the Hammers need to sort their squad depth soon. We have been skating by on a single team of XI, with a huge drop off to the supporting cast. What kind of moves could we see West Ham make in January to combat this?