At points this season it has seemed not only were the problems of the world on Slaven Bilic’s shoulders but also those of Venus and Jupiter too. The West Ham United manager has been forced to defend his club’s new stadium, their stewarding set-up, the quality of the pitch, the intensity of his training regime and his players’ propensity for injury. It has been tough. One upside to such a barrage of distractions, however, is that he has not had to talk about the football much.
West Ham face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing day in what is not quite but nearly a six-pointer. Back-to-back home wins against Burnley and Hull City have moved the Hammers up to 13th but victories over the side now bottom of the league and the one with the worst away form in the division are not a cause for huge celebration and the manner in which they were achieved was not entirely convincing.
Bilic acknowledges his side’s recent form has been less than scintillating. He attributes the problem to a lack of mental confidence, a “cramp” that takes time to shake off, but one he expects to see less of in the coming weeks. “Don’t get me wrong, we are still in danger but we have improved in everything and now I’m expecting that cramp to be much, much less,” he said before the Swansea match. “I’m hoping to see us more fluid with the ball, to have more movement off the ball, to go 20 yards to get the ball rather than stay in your position, to take more responsibility. All those things that have nothing to do with fitness, that have nothing to do with a game plan, but have a lot to do with the freedom in your head.”
There is no doubt that West Ham’s players have been nervous this term, be it because of their league position or from trying to impress in their new surroundings at Stratford. But nerves alone cannot cover it. There are problems at West Ham that extend beyond the freedom in players’ heads and do, in fact, have something to do with a game plan.
Look at West Ham’s team selection this past month and the only thing consistent is the inconsistency. Bilic went with a back four for the hammering by Arsenal and stuck with it for a creditable point at Liverpool. He then ditched it for a back three against Burnley before reverting to a four in the second half against Hull. Gauging West Ham’s shape this season has sometimes been a challenge similar to finding a sailboat in a magic eye picture.
Alongside changes in formation came changes in personnel. In the four matches mentioned above there were three different right-sided defenders; Álvaro Arbeloa, Havard Nordtveit and Cheikh Kouyaté. During the same period Michail Antonio, whom his manager saw as a right-back earlier in the season, played wing-back, inside-forward and centre-forward. If Bilic is looking for fluidity in the team’s play, he would surely benefit from more consistency in selection.
The Hammers have, of course, been hamstrung by injury this season. From Andy Carroll’s three months out to the £20m signing André Ayew being forced off on his debut to the absence of the man originally tasked with that right-back role, Sam Byram. The latest to join the list are Diafra Sakho and the Turkish international Gökhan Töre; both are expected to be out until the spring.
Perhaps this list is simple ill fortune but it still casts a stark light on West Ham’s recruitment policy. The club brought in no fewer than four forwards in the summer – Ayew being joined by Simone Zaza, Jonathan Calleri and Ashley Fletcher – but Bilic still feels the loss of Sakho to be a big blow. And with those four forwards having scored zero league goals between them, it is easy to see why. At right-back the club added the Spain international Arbeloa, fresh from a guard of honour on leaving Real Madrid. He has played only three times and has not been seen since the 5-1 capitulation to Arsenal.
West Ham will go back for another striker and full-back in the January transfer window but the suspicion lingers that new acquisitions are not the panacea for the club’s on-pitch ills. Instead it is an absence of identity, ironic given the furore over the club’s new home, that is the problem.
Last season West Ham had a porous defence and a midfield that made up in endeavour for what it lacked in technical ability. That this average Premier League set-up still managed to knock on the door of the Champions League was down to one man: Dimitri Payet. The France midfielder had one of the best debut seasons in Premier League history. He is far from that level this time round. Just as pronounced is the drop-off in form of his partner in crime from last season, Manuel Lanzini. Signed permanently in the summer for just under £10m, the Argentinian was taken off at half-time against Hull.
Payet is at the heart of Bilic’s problems. Does he build his team around an exceptional player who sounds unsettled? Or does he take better advantage of a sizeable squad to construct a team of complementary abilities? Currently the sense is that Bilic is pursuing the former tactic, as befits a club that now want to compete with the big boys and need a superstar to sell them.
Results may soon force a rethink. After Swansea and Leicester come the two Manchester sides, which will provide decisive proof of whether the team’s form has improved as the Croat predicted. If it has not, Bilic might have to change tack and try to incorporate Payet into a less ambitious, more collective effort. If, that is, he is given the chance.
