Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Andriy Yarmolenko chasing Premier League history with West Ham

By Adam Smith

NANJING, CHINA - JULY 17: Andriy Yarmolenko (R) of Manchester City in action with Oleksandr Zinchenko of West Ham United during the Premier League Asia Trophy 2019 match between West Ham United and Manchester City on July 17, 2019 in Nanjing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images for Premier League)
NANJING, CHINA - JULY 17: Andriy Yarmolenko (R) of Manchester City in action with Oleksandr Zinchenko of West Ham United during the Premier League Asia Trophy 2019 match between West Ham United and Manchester City on July 17, 2019 in Nanjing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images for Premier League) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It’s not often that a West Ham player can chase history in a Premier League season, and even less likely after a catastrophic injury the season before. That being said, Andriy Yarmolenko is chasing Premier League history with West Ham in 2019/20.

The record in his sights is highest-scoring Ukranian-born player in Premier League history. It’s a small group of player, but Yarmolenko has the opportunity on an ambitious West Ham team to chase down a few legends and leave a long-lasting stamp on the best league in the world.

The crux to his chase for history is an admittedly shallow pool of competition as far as goals are concerned. The list is as follows:

  1. Serhiy Rebrov – 10
  2. Andriy Shevchenko – 9
  3. Andrey Voronin -5
  4. Andriy Yarmolenko – 2

After just nine matches last season prior to his injury, Yarmolenko’s double away at Everton has him on the board and chasing Voronin for the third place for Ukranian goal scoring in the Premier League. The big-name on this list is Shevchenko and passing this Chelsea legend would be a phenomenal goal for Yarmolenko to set.

Looking at Yarmolenko, a few factors suggest he could drastically add to his total this season. Plus the team is much better so chipping in 8+ goals isn’t a ridiculous total to be targetting. The biggest factor into his success in this chase will be his teammates who do nothing but accentuate his abilities to get on the score sheet.

Maybe the most important is Ryan Fredericks, Yarmo’s right-back. The incredibly fast Englishman has shown his proclivity to get in on the attack with his speed and dangerous overlaps which should free up Yarmolenko to unleash his lethal left-boot on goal.

Outside of Fredericks, Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, and Jack Wilshere are all players who will likely aid in Yarmolenko’s offensive effectiveness. Despite his height and crossing ability, Yarmolenko is a skilled dribbler who plays the ball on the floor really well. Linking up with midfield players as mentioned above can only help free him up to shoot.

Lastly, newcomer Sebastien Haller should also help Yarmolenko get forward and perhaps clean up some scraps in the box. Haller’s striker partner Luka Jovic got more credit for Frankfurt’s success last season, but Haller was just two goals short of Jovic while also chipping in 12 assists in all competitions. Haller is a scorer as well as a creator and Yarmolenko will benefit from him leading the line.

The only stumbling block for Yarmolenko’s success is the play of Michail Antonio who finished last season extremely strong. A tandem at right-wing, however, isn’t the end of the world and could actually benefit both players. I’m not sure who will start out of the two players, but Pellegrini seems keen on getting Yarmolenko as much as possible.

dark. Next. West Ham's stars vs. Manchester City

Is 8 goals too much to ask from the towering Ukranian? Well, he scored 10 goals in 36 games with Dortmund in 2017/18, 19 in 36 for Dynamo Kyiv in 2016/17, and 19 in 34 in 2015/16 again for Dynamo Kyiv. The ability to get shots on net and burn them past the keeper is well documented for Yarmolenko. This season could be massive for him for his team and for the history books.