It is the end of the decade, crazy right? West Ham has seen plenty of good players at the club since 2010 so what do we do? We compile our starting XI of the decade.
With the decent amount of star players at West Ham, there have also come a plethora of ups and downs in the past 10 years. The one consistent has been that they have been in the EPL for every season except for one.
With those ups and downs in form also came many changes to the formations. For our starting XI of the decade, we went with a 5-4-1 as the preferred formation. To not just make this about us, we got the ever-present Hammers Polls to help get, you, the fan’s perspective on the past 10 years.
West Ham United’s Starting XI of the Decade
Goalkeeper:
Lukasz Fabianski. The Polish international may only be in his second season with West Ham but he has had quite the impression on not only the fans but the squad as well.
The Back Three:
James Collins, Winston Reid, and Angelo Ogbonna. Unlike the first two names on this list, Oggy doesn’t have as long of a history with the Hammers but has been almost as equally touted. Collins and Reid were staples of the defense for around 7 out of the past 10 years making them the easy pick.
Who is your keeper of the decade? @HammersPolls
— Green St. Hammers (@GreenStHammers) December 28, 2019
The Wing Backs:
Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell. Last-minute we switched our formation up leaving no way for you to answer this question but by stats and performance alone, this was the best choice.
By nature, Antonio isn’t a defensive back and he proved that under Slaven Bilic but as a wing-back, he could bring positive results to both sides of the pitch. Love him or hate him but Cress has been the best LB we have seen in 10 years at West Ham.
The Middle of the Pack:
Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Dmitri Payet, and Joe Cole. The best out of these 4 would be to put Nobes and Parker just in front of the defense and let Payet and Cole run freely up the middle. Can you imagine the passing accuracy these 4 could bring to the side?
Who is your center midfielder of the decade? @HammersPolls
— Green St. Hammers (@GreenStHammers) December 28, 2019
Center Forward:
There can only be one, Carlton Cole. It would be a poacher’s paradise sitting ahead of the likes of Payet and Joe Cole and this is were Carlton would fit in perfectly as the big man would have free range and be setup nicely in return.
Who is your center forward/striker of the decade? @HammersPolls
— Green St. Hammers (@GreenStHammers) December 28, 2019
Honorable Mentions (The Subs):
The bench for the team of the decade would be just as packed as the starting XI and would look something like this: Adrian as the backup keeper. Both James Tomkins and Joey O’Brien as back up defenders. Kevin Nolan and Delcan Rice for the midfield. Finally, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho to back up Cole.
The Gaffer:
Oh and we almost forgot... best manager of the decade is? @HammersPolls
— Green St. Hammers (@GreenStHammers) December 29, 2019
Slaven Bilic. To be honest the selection of who would be the Gaffer of the decade didn’t bolster a star-studded room. However, out of the 5 different managers that were a part of West Ham between 2010 and 2019 Super Slav was the best choice as the last season at Upton Park will be remembered forever.
This decade has basically seen West Ham finish right where they began at 17th in the table but we have a lot to be thankful for when you look at the past and these players mentioned above. Heres to the next 10 years in hope of progression, not regression.