It’s been a bittersweet season for the hammers — the owners splashed a whopping £100m (nearly) on transfers topped with the arrival of the Manuel Pellegrini
This for the sweeter part. But West Ham’s opening fixtures created a lot of dilemma in the online sports betting world and the tipsy-turvy displays only exacerbated the situation. Some of the new players arrived with a lot of promise, like Felipe Anderson, who is getting into the groove slowly and salvaged a point in their somewhat gruelling tie against Huddersfield; but still, the look of it all doesn’t look convincing enough for hammers to win a euro trip next season. However, regardless of the ups and downs, West Ham looks like a more cohesive unit now and their impending fixtures could turn their fortune around.
Can they secure a Europa League spot this season? Let’s have a look at the odds.
The Battle for the spots:
The Irons do have enough quality in their team but it all boils down to their display on the pitch. In addition to that, the bigger factor that’ll play a part in that would be the arduous competition that is in the place. With Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea looking like they’ll seal the top spots without much fuss, the first two spots for Europa League would probably be secured by two of these three teams — Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United. Although United’s dismal run at the start of their campaign ruled them out as favourites for the top 3 spots, they could still get on their feet and mark their territory on the Premier League Table.
But it’d be criminal to rule out teams like Bournemouth, Watford, Everton and Wolves. Bournemouth’s flustering swift flowing attacking displays have grabbed eyeballs this season with Javi Garcia’s men doing the same amount of damage to the oppositions. Each of them has been consistent and look like the favourites for the remaining spot — as per the look of things right now.
It’s too early to make predictions right now and we have more than half the season in our hands. Although currents results do reflect a lot, a lot of factors come into play with time and could shake the table in unanticipated ways for sure. If we look at Toffees and the Hammers, both of these teams have gone through changes and it would take them a fair amount of time to develop their teams into well-oiled cohesive units. The dark horse in the race would probably be the Wolves side, who most importantly have turned up against big sides. They came close to winning against Spurs in their recent tie and made both sides of Manchester drop 2 points.
So, the queue for the Europa spot is cram-full of teams and it’ll come down to consistency and some amount of luck at the end of the season.
Can West Ham pull it through?
It’s undeniably going to be difficult for West Ham. The positives and negatives hang in the balance but their fortune depends on the other teams too.
But so far, it’s been more about the negatives. Let’s have a look at some of the major problems that are looming at London Stadium.
The addition of nine new players in a season has sundry meanings. Not to mention, a new manager with a new philosophy is something that would take its time surface. Even the players seem aware of that. “This group of players, obviously there were big changes and it takes time to bed in,” said Lukasz Fabianski, the goalkeeper. “Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.”
One of the greatest setbacks for the Hammers this season was Andriy Yarmolenko’s injury who arrived at the club this summer in a £17.5 million move. Fans got excited with the moments of brilliance that came from Yarmolenko during the preseason and the trio of Arnautovic, Anderson and Yarmolenko looked threatening. But Andriy has been ruled out for a long period of time and it appears like he’ll miss rest of the season — what a blow!
But there are things to be excited about from now. Keeping the game against Liverpool aside, West Ham are arguably going to have the easiest run of fixtures and if the players keep playing the way they have been lately they might give a fair fight for the Europa League spots.
There are two major issues at the club that needed fixing — defensives woes and the team’s cohesion. The arrival of Balbeuna did get fans a bit auspicious the player but it would take him some time to adapt to the league. West Ham have a poor defensive record so far and if they really wish to turn the tables, the players at the back would need to pull their socks. Fabianski without a doubt has been one of Hammers’ best players but their fragile defence hasn’t been able to keep him away from trouble. Speaking about of the team cohesion, it appears like things are getting better at the London Stadium and with impending fixtures being relatively easier than the ones they started their campaign with, we can expect big things from the East London Club.
Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s going to go down the wire. The competition is fierce and to be fair, the way West Ham have been playing so far, the chances are very thin. However, it’d be interesting to see what they have to offer in their coming games. Exciting times await at the London Stadium.
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