OPINION
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has not got his side firing on all cylinders after his arrival in east London but knows he has to get the Irons posing a threat to the opposition if he wants to get the club out the precarious situation they find themselves in.
Sitting bottom of the Premier League table, the Hammers have looked lacklustre at both ends of the pitch, conceding the joint most amount of goals of any top flight side as well as scoring the joint least up front, with just two strikes to their name courtesy of Marko Arnautovic.
The Austrian has been the chosen man to lead the line at the London Stadium, for good reason judging by his goal return, but that has not stopped Pellegrini throwing 5’7″ (source: Transfermarkt) forward Javier Hernandez into the fray on a regular basis, with appearances in all five of their games across all competitions.
The Mexican has hardly been the prolific frontman the Hammers would have been hoping for and his position may already be under pressure following the arrival of Lucas Perez, but his position is going to come under a lot more scrutiny in the near future thanks to the return of England striker Andy Carroll.
A very different type of forward, the former Newcastle man has been out of the start to the season due to injury, but it looks as though Pellegrini could call on him sooner rather than later – Hammers medic Richard Collinge confirming via reporter Sam Inkersole that the 29-year-old is set to make an imminent return to training this week.
Collinge also confirmed that Sam Byram, who was on-loan at Nottingham Forest, has had knee surgery. Andy Carroll expected back on the training pitches this week. Winston Reid still some way off but making progress.
— Sam Inkersole (@Sam_InkersoleTM) September 11, 2018
Having Carroll back as a threat up front will be a massive boost to West Ham’s chances but while it will help the club, it will hinder Hernandez’s chances of keeping his place in the team – and with no game time, his future at the London Stadium must be called into question.
He best hope he can rediscover his goal scoring touch – otherwise Carroll could end his time in east London.