A poor start to the season and West Ham fans appear to have gone into meltdown. Away losses to Chelsea and Manchester City are acceptable, but losing at home to Watford, combined with all of the issues the new stadium is throwing up, is borderline unacceptable.
Defensively against Watford, the Hammers were, quite simply, diabolical, and changes need to be made. But Slaven Bilic is a notoriously stubborn man. He’s the man who played Michail Antonio at right back for half a year even though the entire West Ham fan base – and club sponsors Betway – could see that it wasn’t working.Not that this is a bad thing in a manager, though. It lets the players know that it’s his way or the highway and it’s not like it hasn’t worked – the Antonio situation was just an anomaly.
So what needs changing and what will actually be changed probably is further apart than the fans hope. Most of the fan base thinks that the defence needs an overhaul, and I’m inclined to agree with the majority on this occasion. Collins hasn’t been the rock we all perceived him to be, Reid’s long-term fall in form/quality just seems to continue and Adrian has been error prone. But again, the question is: what will Bilic actually change?
The West Ham manager will give Adrian another chance, and maybe he deserves one – he has repeatedly kept West Ham in games with his performances over the past three seasons; why should we judge him on his last two performances rather than his last 50? I agree that Randolph should be given more of a chance than just cup games, but it would make more sense to keep Adrian between the sticks against West Brom and I expect the Spaniard to retain his position.
With regards to the centre backs, I would personally like to see Ogbonna and Nordtveit come into the team. There are a few West Ham fans who are already claiming Nordtveit as a failed signing: these are the sort of fans who don’t realise football exists outside of England. There’s a reason why he captained a Champions League side before we remarkably got him on a free transfer: he’s a class act. I expect to see Ogbonna come into the starting XI – which is long overdue – and partner Reid, this seemed to be Bilic’s favoured pairing last season and it will likely continue that way for now.
I also expect the full backs to remain the same. Masuaku didn’t make any real errors last week – not to mention there’s no alternative – and while a lot of fans would like to see Arbeloa replace Byram after his weak (pun intended) showing against West Brom, I doubt the Spaniard is match fit yet and Byram will be given another chance – as, perhaps, he should.
The attack will obviously remain the same, with Zaza leading it, and Noble and Kouyate should also retain their places. So, despite the West Ham army’s call for drastic changes following last Saturday’s embarrassing loss, I expect there to only be one.
