Matt Le Tissier believes that West Ham are more than capable of a top half finish this season, once their injury absentees return to strengthen the side.
The Hammers are without a host of first team players, and have struggled to build up any kind of decent momentum so far this campaign.
The likes of Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini, and Marko Arnautovic are expected to return to action by the turn of the New Year, and Le Tissier thinks that the Irons will benefit from the injection of talent.
Speaking on Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, Saturday December 8th), he said: “It should be [a top half of the table team]. There’s no way that this West Ham side, in my opinion, should be fighting relegation, and if they get those players back, they’re good quality players.
“They’re going to miss Arnautovic, he’s going to be out about a month I think. He does make them tick so he will be a miss but they have got some quality to come back there, and if those boys fire then West Ham are more than capable of finishing in the top half of the table.”
OPINION
There can be little doubt over the potential that West Ham have in their squad. After an impressive transfer window during the summer they boast an attacking roster that challenges anything on offer outside of the top six. The issues they have had so far this season have come about through a combination of the natural time it takes for new additions to settle and some unfortunate injury absences. When they are fit the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Jack Wilshere, Andriy Yarmolenko, and Winston Reid would strengthen the side no end. When those players do come back into the first team fold then the Hammers will be a mouth-watering prospect on paper, but far too often West Ham do not perform in a way that matches their transfer activities. Even if the Irons fail to hit the heights that they so easily could, they should have enough to pull away from a relegationn battle, but in truth, they should aiming for so much more than that.