West Ham striker Sebastien Haller has been left feeling like a “scapegoat” in the Hammers’ dressing room, according to The Sun.
The report suggests that the 25-year-old Frenchman has attracted ire from his teammates after having failed to score since the beginning of October, but he in turn has been left fuming by a lack of quality service.
The article reads: “Record signing Sebastien Haller is upset with being saddled with the blame for a miserable run of form which has seen him fail to score in over two months.
“The £45 million striker believes he has been made the scapegoat for his disappointing goal return claiming the team have not been doing enough to provide quality service and play to his strengths.
“But others among the squad have been left underwhelmed by his impact since his move from Eintracht Frankfurt, thinking he is a poor relation compared to Marko Arnautovic – the player he was supposed to replace.”
OPINION
Every story that comes out of West Ham right now feels like a really negative one. The Hammers aren’t at rock bottom yet, but they’re not far off, and the last thing they need is a rift in the dressing room. If we’re being honest, the club will probably have been hoping for more from Haller so far this term. The target man started the season last a blistering pace, but he has faded badly, and it’s no coincidence that his slump has come at the same time as his side’s tailspin towards the drop zone. There are positives in his game, of course, such as the average of 6.2 aerial duels he is winning per game, as per Whoscored, but there are also pratfalls. With just 0.4 successful dribbles and 0.7 key passes, he is cutting an isolated figure in a claret and blue shirt, and so the question really is whether that is his own fault, or whether it is symptomatic of a team who simply cannot give him the service he needs. Either way, something’s got to give, or Haller will go down as a very, very costly error of judgement.
