Slaven Bilic has called for help for his misfiring strikers and said “all the clubs” would want to sign Daniel Sturridge, as the Liverpool striker continues to be linked with a January move to West Ham.
Bilic acknowledged his side’s continuing struggle for goals before their visit to free-scoring Liverpool on Sunday. West Ham have scored 15 times in 14 Premier League games this season and only two of those goals have come from strikers. Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho have one apiece, Carroll’s goal the consolation in last Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal, but each of the three forwards signed in the summer – Jonathan Calleri, Ashley Fletcher and Simone Zaza – has yet to score in the league.
“The strikers didn’t score enough goals or as many as we expected but it is not only down to them,” Bilic said. “I never want to divide the team into strikers and the rest. Although it is the strikers’ job to score goals, it is also the responsibility of the whole team.”
When asked about Sturridge, who is currently out for an unspecified time with a calf injury and will not feature at Anfield, Bilic said: “He’s one of the biggest talents, he’s a great player. The talent is there, the touch, the finishing, everything is great. The only thing that’s stopped him being regular for club and country are the injuries.
“He’s just a player that has been linked with us, basically, and we’ve been linked with almost every player,” Bilic added. “We’re always there in contention. Most of the time it’s absolutely not true, 95% of the time. But you’re asking me about Sturridge and I have no problem about that. All the clubs are thinking about him because he is that kind of player. I don’t know his work rate, I don’t know his dedication to his job or whatever but unfortunately for England and for Liverpool and especially for him he’s injured. That’s his problem.”
West Ham’s top scorer Michail Antonio, who has six goals to his name, is expected to return from injury on Sunday, alongside full-back Aaron Cresswell. Carroll will also continue his return to match fitness, with Bilic keen to have the striker back given West Ham face three games in eight days.
“It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot in the past few days,” Bilic said. “The last game he played before Arsenal was in Romania at the beginning of the season. That’s a long break and we have three games and need him in all three of them. He can’t be that ready and we can’t be naive enough to expect that he is. It would be crazy to think he could last three 90 minutes in one week. But we are going to use him probably, or most definitely, in all three because we need him.”
