Football Season Guide

West Ham appointed the Premier League winner with Man City Manuel Pellegrini in charge this summer and the vastly experienced Chilean immediately started reforming the shaky squad. Pellegrini addressed the major defensive issues from last season with the signing of three new defenders and the goalkeeper that made the most saves in the Premier League in 2017/18. All of the newly signed Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop and Balbuena are potential starters at the back. Pellegrini didn’t stop there and he also captured Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez for his midfield, while the signings of wingers Anderson and Yarmolenko to play on each side of Arnautovic makes West Ham’s attack look really lethal. Also Perez was brought in from Arsenal as an alternative up front. The Hammers will almost certainly use 4-3-3 as a formation and the ability of all of the main front three to swap positions promises very interesting forward action this season. Wilshere is also given freedom in the middle of the park and he regularly attacks through the middle, while the two that start around him are usually more defensive-minded. Pellegrini is happy with the depth of the squad too and presently he has alternatives for pretty much every role on the pitch. Lanzini, Snodgrass and Hernandez are just three of those that most likely won’t be used as regulars early in the campaign, but they all have the potential to be highly impacting substitutes. Probably the main concern for Pellegrini these days is the fact that several of his players are injury-prone and the conditions of all of Winston Reid, Aaron Cresswell, Sam Byram, Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll will have to be managed smartly during the campaign. It will be a small surprise if all of them don’t miss certain periods during the course of the season. Considering that at least six of the newly signed players are expected to be regular starters and also the fact that West Ham have a difficult opening ten fixtures the early results might not be as good as many fans hope, but Pellegrini is building a very solid squad and in the long-term the Hammers should be able to get involved in the battle for Europe.