Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes that West Ham United will finish seventh in the Premier League this season.
He has named the three things that could help the Hammers achieve this aim – the fact that they have a title winning manager in the shape of Manuel Pellegrini, have spent £100 million this summer, and his bold claim that they have got the best front three in the league outside of the top six teams.
Carragher added that the Irons must attempt to challenge the top six in the quest for seventh place due to the changes that they made in the summer’s transfer window.
“Of course because of the bad start you think ‘Can they get dragged in’ [to a relegation battle],” he told Sky Sports’ Friday Night Football [as transcribed by Claret and Hugh].
“But what they’ve got, they’ve got a Premier League winning manager so West Ham in the summer have made big changes to be I would say maybe the best of the rest and try and challenge the top six, look for that seventh position.
“So as I said Premier League-winning manager, £100 million spent, a front three that is I would say outside the top six, possibly the best front three certainly what they’ve showed the last three or four games.”,
OPINION
This is a very bold prediction to make from Carragher – West Ham have certainly turned a corner, but that by no means indicates that they are capable of achieving seventh place in the Premier League. When you look at the level of the times around them – for example Everton, and Bournemouth, who have been doing well recently – it would be very hard for them to achieve this aim. If they played like they did against Brighton the other night, then there is no chance in hell that they will finish just outside of the top-six. Yes, they do have quality in their ranks – Felipe Anderson has only gone to prove that recently – but they need more solidarity to finish this high up the table. This is the first season that all of the new players have featured together, so they need at least one more campaign to prove that they are capable of such a finish.
