A season which started with such promise ended in despair as the Hammers finished the 2014/15 season in 12th place having been in the Top 4 at Christmas. Here are our player-by-player rankings for this past season.
Goalkeepers
Adrian San Miguel – 9 – Another sterling season from the Spaniard stopper. His highlight was undoubtedly scoring the winning penalty in our third round FA Cup clash against Everton.
Jussi Jaaskelainen – 6 – The experienced Finnish goalkeeper was limited to just one League Cup cameo and one substitute appearance after Adrian was sent off against Southampton.
Defenders
Carl Jenkinson – 8 – We had Jenkinson on loan from Arsenal for the year and the 23 year-old right back proved to be a revelation. Securing his permanent services must be high on this summer’s priority list.
Joey O’Brien – 5 – O’Brien is simply not good enough. Often brought on to see out a victory, he is perhaps one of the reasons why we concede so many late goals.
Guy Demel – 5 – The Ivorian right back saw himself drop significantly down the pecking order this season and managed only 8 distinctly average showings in all competitions. He has subsequently been released.
James Tomkins – 7 – Academy product Tomkins has had another impressive season at the back for us but an injury-free season could have seen him improve even more.
Winston Reid – 7 – Reid has had a few uncharacteristically hairy moments this season but has been largely solid since signing a contract extension.
James Collins – 7 – Collins has continued to deputise competently when required this year. Cult hero ‘Ginger Pele’, however, has not eradicated his proneness to errors, as evidenced with his comedy own goal against Manchester City.
Reece Burke – 6 – It is refreshing to see another academy product given first team opportunities and 18 year-old Burke has enjoyed a successful breakthrough season with a few starts towards the end of the season. Hopefully he can continue to push for appearances next season.
Aaron Cresswell – 10 – Many pundits chose Cresswell in their team of the season and rightly so. The left back won Hammer of the Year and two more awards in his debut season at Upton Park and may feel justifiably aggrieved to have missed out on an England call-up thus far.
(Dan Potts’ 1 cup appearance was not enough to obtain a season rating)
Midfielders
Mark Noble – 7 – Noble proved to be a reliable starter for yet another season. Without doing anything spectacular, the local boy put in some solid shifts sitting deep in our midfield.
Alex Song – 7 – Before January, Song was on course for a 9 or 10 rating but his dip in form coincided with the overall team decline. The Barcelona loanee has bags of talent but sometimes his laziness outweighed his ability.
Cheikhou Kouyate – 8 – Senegal international Kouyate turned out to be a fantastic piece of business this season. He displayed both attacking and defensive qualities with powerful performances in the middle and even dropped back into centre back when required.
Kevin Nolan – 5 – As we suspected at the start of the season, Nolan is well past his sell-by date. He no longer scores goals, he no longer gets assists and he is lazy.
Morgan Amalfitano – 6 – I feel quite harsh only giving Amalfitano a 6 but his score might have improved had he been given more game time. His versatility worked well when we played in the diamond formation and he is one of our most creative and exciting forward-thinking midfielders.
Stewart Downing – 8 – There is no doubt that Downing tailed off in the latter part of the season but that was mainly due to being forced to play out wide. His haul of 6 league goals and 8 assists earned him a much-deserved England recall.
Matt Jarvis – 5 – Jarvis tries hard but he is not good enough to even be considered for our first team. I think it would be mutually beneficial to part ways this window.
(Diego Poyet’s 5 games in all competitions and Nene’s 8 substitute appearances are not enough to give them a season rating)
Strikers
Andy Carroll – 7 – Very effective when fit but spent another season frustratingly plagued by injuries. Just as he was looking close to his best, he was side-lined for the remainder of the season.
Diafra Sakho – 8 – Another striker who could have received a higher rating if not for injuries. Sakho shocked us all with 10 goals in 21 league games despite several injury worries and was an instrumental part of our early season form.
Enner Valencia – 6 – He works well up front but was often forced to play in an unfamiliar wide position later in the season. Having arrived for such a pricy fee, he needs to improve his game next year in order to justify the price tag.
Carlton Cole – 6 – We have said an ultimate farewell to Cole at the end of this season and this is probably a mutually beneficial decision considering he is mainly restricted to 10-minute cameo appearances from the bench.
(Elliot Lee’s one substitute appearance on the last game of the season was not enough to give him a season rating)
