With the new stadium and big money transfers, it’s easy to think that West Ham fans will be optimistic for next season only being a week away. The big names brought to the Hammers were Gokhan Tore on loan from Besiktas, Sofiane Feghouli on a free transfer from Valencia, Havard Nordtveit on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach, Manuel Lanzini who was on loan at West Ham last season has secured a move back for £9.5 million and finally, the Hammers have signed Ayew from Swansea for a fee of £20 million.
With new players and being able to keep stars such as Dimitri Payet after having a brilliant Euro 2016 campaign, things look good for West Ham. The problem West Ham faced for majority of the season was injuries to players. With increasing the depth of their squad offensively, it doesn’t look like Bilic will have a problem with injuries going forward but Bilic doesn’t have too many options in the left and right side of the defence. The only real option is Cresswell and Byrom but it won’t be a surprise for them to get another defender.
With the new stadium, West Ham have to dominate some games, especially at home if they want to be seen as a team pushing forward to Europe and eventually the Top 4. It won’t be easy for West Ham in the first five games, them being Chelsea (A), Bournemouth (H), Manchester City (A), Watford (H), and West Brom (A). I expect West Ham to play the same 4-2-3-1 formation from last season but it will allow Payet to move into the centre being more creative with players like Gokhan Tore, Feghouli, Ayew and Antonio being able to play on the wing.
Where do I predict West Ham next season? I see them finishing 6th or 7th.
