Following a 2-1 loss to FC Astra, a 4-3 aggregate defeat, West Ham’s European adventure came to an early end, this obviously led to fans questioning the managers approach.
In the first leg of the game against FC Astra, a strong team was fielded, but the Hammers were held to a 2-2 draw in East London, this meant the travelling West Ham team needed a win to proceed in the Europa League. However the second leg of the tie was only three days before the start of the premier league season, against Arsenal, and this led to Slaven Bilic making 11 changes from the first leg, fielding a weakened side made up of youngsters. The reasoning for this was that Bilic believed the premier league had to take priority.
Although this was Bilic’s view, fans are forced to question whether this was the correct approach. An alternative way to go would have been to field another strong side in the Europa League, and potentially sacrifice the game against Arsenal on Sunday. If the Europa League had been prioritized and this approach had been taken, the European dream may have still been alive. There would have been many advantages to this, continuing to play in Europe would have increased revenue and therefore helped financially, allowing us to bolster the squad with even more big names in the last season at the Boleyn ground and the time leading up to the move to the Olympic Stadium. European football would also make the club a very desirable place to play, allowing the East London side to attract big players, and reinforce its high status before moving to the over 50,000 capacity Olympic Stadium.
Alternatively was Bilic right to prioritise the Premier League? In his first season at West Ham, he will obviously be hoping for a high premier league finish. In pre-season, critics were commonly questioning whether or not the West Ham players would be able to cope with the heavy workload that European football brings, and this must have been on the Croatian’s mind and therefore influenced the team he decided to field away in Romania. However due to this approach the Hammers are now out of the Europa League and lose the bonuses it brought with it. The question is whether the bonuses that come with the Europa League outweigh a high premier league finish.
In my opinion, although I am disappointed about the Europa League campaign coming to an end, I can understand why Bilic took the approach he did. But in my opinion I would have preferred the Europa League to take priority at least at this early stage. As the premier league game that has taken priority is against Arsenal, I feel Bilic’s decision may have been the wrong one. Realistically the game at Arsenal would have always been a massive challenge, and one it would be very hard for us to achieve three points in. Therefore, I believe Bilic took the wrong approach regarding the Europa League and should have prioritized the away leg versus FC Astra.
