West Ham’s story of the season so far has largely been the encore for their maiden campaign at the London Stadium, where the script for the Hammers followed a routine of flirting with relegation and struggling to find consistency.
Despite a poor season last term, Slaven Bilic kept his job, although the Croatian’s departure seems inevitable, and West Ham fans may be wondering what might have been if the club had the guts to push for change- particularly as their new signings, although impressive, are yet to find their rhythm.
Javier Hernandez’ three goals have all come in defeats, with the Mexican forced into a partnership alongside Andy Carroll that shows few signs of developing, and Marko Arnautovic yet to properly find his feet after an early dismissal in his Hammers career.
Whilst all this has gone on in West Ham, just north of London Watford have enjoyed tremendous success under the tenure of Marco Silva- a manager who was heavily criticised before his Hull side had even kicked a ball last season and ended up being highly sought after following fine performances on the North East.
Despite his impressive showings, West Ham stuck to their guns with Bilic and allowed Marco Silva to move to Watford- where he’s continued to shine, beating Arsenal at the weekend to climb into the Premier League’s top-four.
Silva’s success at Watford has come working with a decent budget for a Premier League side, around the same as he would have got with West Ham, as the Hornets spent around £55m this summer to bring in Andre Gray, Richarlison, Tom Cleverley, Will Hughes, Nathaniel Chalobah and Marvin Zeegelaar.
West Ham, in contrast, spent £40m this summer- with half of that being on club-record signing Marko Arnautovic and a further £18m being spent to bring Hernandez back to the Premier League- two signings that Bilic, so far, has struggled to get the best out of.
Shifting Hernandez into a wide-left position due to Arnautovic’s suspension earlier in the season showed Bilic’s tactical inferiority, which has again been made clear due to his insistence to partner the former Manchester United forward with Andy Carroll.
Silva, meanwhile, has seen success from his purchases- although some are, understandably, still finding their feet fully. 20-year-old Richarlison has scored three goals, securing one assist, whilst Chalobah has slotted in perfectly to the Hornets midfield and the same can be said of Tom Cleverley.
Andre Gray, signed from Burnley, has one goal and should continue to rise, whilst 22-year-old Will Hughes will take time to adjust to the Premier League- but the Hornets will have always been aware of that, shown by the fact they signed two other central midfielders who have gone on to become regular starters.
Bilic, meanwhile, will have expected an instant impact from his summer additions that he’s not got so far- and this isn’t down to poor performances, although that has played a part, as his tactics simply haven’t got the best out of his players.
Hernandez has been feeding on scraps, which is staggering as he should have Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio providing opportunities, whilst Pablo Zabaleta has been consistent but not exceptional. Thankfully, Joe Hart is starting to improve.
Had Silva come into West Ham, the course of the summer may well have been different but the Hammers would certainly have been in a much more stable position. It’s been clear for a while that Bilic isn’t the man to take the Hammers forward and the danger is that they’ve missed out on some top quality managers.
Silva is now off the table and Rafael Benitez, still at Newcastle, could be in a similar position if the Magpies’ takeover goes through accordingly.
