As a West Ham fan, I love Slaven Bilic. I love his links with the club and the incredible memories he helped to create in our final season at Upton Park.
However since the move to the London Stadium things have gone rapidly downhill. The way that the team has been playing lies at the feet of one man, the manager. You could say that Bilic has been unlucky. Moving into a new stadium, having a number of injuries to key players, and not to mention the whole Payet saga. It can’t have been easy for the Croatian.
No matter how difficult the situation has been for Bilic, I along with many other West Ham fans feel let down by the way the team has been playing recently. We certainly think a squad of this level should be nowhere near from the relegation zone.
Not good enough
Recently, we have had very poor results. Losing to Leicester at home as well as Hull away is not to the standard we need to be at. Bilic is the man we have to be questioning!
The play looks too predictable and we never really seem to have a game plan. The boss is also making some very strange team selections, Kouyate at right back springs to mind.
Many West Ham fans are fed up of this happening week in, week out. We have lost several games on the trot now and we feel it’s time for a change. We all know Slaven is passionate, but tactically he isn’t taking us to the next level which is what we need to do in this new stadium.
So thank you for the memories Slaven but it’s time to move on before it’s too late.
Not just Bilic to blame though
However, Bilic isn’t the only one to blame for this situation. I believe what we are missing is backing from the board.
We went into the summer having been promised a “Marquee Signing” and all we came away with was Andre Ayew for £20 million. We tried to sign several other big players such as Batshuayi and Lacazette, but David Gold and Sullivan were not willing enough to take a risk and splash some cash on a top striker. In the end, it’s what we have been missing all season.
Teams like Southampton and Swansea have done it and got their reward. Both Gabbiadini and Llorente have been scoring the goals for their respective teams. Having a proven striker has given them much better chances of winning football matches.
I think with the right money and the right manager, West Ham could get back on track. In the current market you have to spend big if you want to compete, and currently we are paying the price for not doing that last year.
A vital end to the season
After Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat against Arsenal, we are in big big trouble! It makes the game against Swansea at home an absolute must win. Defeat in that game would leave us dangerously close to the drop zone, just two points above the Swans.
I have seen some people on social media saying “you’re too good to go down”. But it’s happened to us before. We managed to get 40+ points and still went down with a very promising squad that included the likes of Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe.
So Saturday is absolutely vital that we win. Failure to do so will make the remaining six games a very nervy experience indeed. Come on you Irons.
This article was written by our brand new West Ham United writer, @WHUFC_James.
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