West Ham Fan Zone has suggested that the midfield positions have been the ‘biggest problem area for the last 2/3 seasons’ and feels they have been ‘neglected’.
Last time out against Burnley, the midfield was Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass on the wings, with teammates Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Pablo Fornals making up the middle three. The rather alarming stat is the WhoScored average ratings for these players, with none of them achieving a rating higher than 6.3/10.
To put the ratings into perspective, no Burnley midfielder had a rating below 6.9/10 with Dwight McNeil achieving the highest with 9.1/10.
Indeed, it appears a number of the Hammers’ faithful have agreed that the midfield situation is a problem and have taken to Twitter to echo the thoughts of the fan account.
Before Pellegrini came in, our CM options were Noble, Kouyate, Obiang, Fernandes and Cullen.
Since his arrival, he has sold Kouyate, Fernandes and Obiang, and brought in Sanchez and Wilshere.
Our biggest problem area for the last 2/3 seasons has been neglected for far too long.
— West Ham Fan Zone (@WHUFCFZ) November 12, 2019
yeah same mate or even jonjo shelvey
— IronsFM (@IronsFM) November 12, 2019
Obiang never should have been sold imo, and Cullen deserved at least half a season to prove himself
— Matt (@MattR_WHUFC) November 12, 2019
It’s okay the William Carvallho deal will go through at some point!
Massive problem area like you say. We should of got to the point where we didn’t need to rely on Noble— Matt Gladwell (@CarltonGoal) November 12, 2019
and its where games are won…..illustrating how bad of a manager he is.
— Richard Knott (@RichardKnott2) November 12, 2019
100% correct ! Centre mid and no ‘ legs ‘ is our biggest problem.
Pellegrini has had 3 transfer windows to sort it and hasn’t .
He has failed— Paolo (@ellingford_paul) November 12, 2019
It hard to find a Hammers fan that doesn’t agree with the tweet, but some of the fans did have some suggestions for fixing the problem.
I really want us to try to get Doucouré if watford get relegated
— Endre Gardshaug (@EGardshaug) November 13, 2019
We’ve got give the youngsters a go don’t throw them in against spurs and Chelsea bit ease them in to easier games although at the moment no games easy
— HarveyAtkinsonWHU (@HarveyWhu) November 12, 2019
Noble is west hams biggest problem ppl just refuse to accept it
— Curdy Da Don (@CurdyDaDon) November 12, 2019
What Do We Think?
It’s all going to depend on whether the board are willing to back Manuel Pellegrini financially in January, as if he is wanting players that will make an immediate impact, they could cost the club some serious money either in a transfer fee or wages.
Bringing in a first-team level holding midfielder and perhaps a Snodgrass-esque upgrade could be the way to go, however, West Ham have some tough fixtures coming up, which could see the Chilean manager out the door before the January transfer window comes around.