Can West Ham build a fortress out of the London Stadium?
By Louis Pye
As the 2019/2020 Premier League season beckons, less than a fortnight away, West Ham United fans have reason to be (cautiously) optimistic.
With the summer arrivals of Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller, alongside the farewell to Marko Arnautovic (as he earned his boyhood-dream move to Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG), it is perhaps the most exciting time to be a Hammer since the club moved to London Stadium back in 2016.
A lot of fans remain on the unforgiving side in regards to the grandeur bowl, and while understandably so, in pure footballing terms, the home form in Manuel Pellegrini’s debut season proved to be reasonably successful – providing we compare it to previous seasons at London Stadium.
The Hammers amassed a grand total of 31 points in East London last season, compared to 27 points in 2017/2018, and 25 points during the 2016/2017 stadium debut season.
These statistics give cause for optimism heading into the campaign opener against Premier League champions Manchester City, as a steady increase in the points tally at London Stadium is occurring season-upon-season.
To add to this, West Ham were defeated in battle just once at home since the turn of the year, highlighting the impact that Pellegrini’s philosophy had on the team in such a short period of time.
While the defense may appear to look suspect in moments, Pellegrini’s midfield is, on paper at least, incredibly talented, well-balanced, and one that should prove a test for any visiting side playing in East London.
Manuel Lanzini scored the game-winning goal against Fulham last Saturday – as he lined up alongside Declan Rice, Jack Wilshere, Fornals and Felipe Anderson – a teaser of what is yet to come for the Hammers’ faithful.
If Haller has packed the same goalscoring boots that saw him bag 19 goals in all competition last season for Eintracht Frankfurt, such a combination could prove too hot to handle for most teams.
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With another pre-season in process, along with the aforementioned new recruits, it is likely that the home form at London Stadium will only improve further – which in turn will play a vital role in the Irons’ fortunes as the club look to push on for a top seven (or even higher?) finish – perhaps swaying some of the more sceptical supporters one step closer to calling the stadium “home”.