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On the back of a very disappointing season that saw West Ham United finish 11th in the league, fail to get to the group stages of the Europa League, falling to Romanian side Astra Giurgiu for the second year in a row and going out in the last 64 round of the FA Cup, the fans will be hoping for a top half finish in the coming season, or maybe even repeat the 7th place finish of 2015/16.
Slaven Bilic's job was in jeopardy a few times last season, and if he doesn't improve on last year's performances, this could be his last season at the Olympic Stadium. But with the fans behind him and a decent looking squad, West Ham's Premier League rivals should be way more worried than the Croatian manager.
In this article we'll show you how the London club will line up this season, with a squad that has proven Premier League players such as Fonte, Cresswell, Ayew, Feghouli, and Carroll. None of the players mentioned above have a place in the starting line up you'll see next. Depth is definitely one of West Ham's strengths.
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Goalkeeper
Joe Hart is on the back of weird season that saw him going from club captain at Manchester City to Torino loanee, all because Pep Guardiola deemed him "not good enough with his feet" and instead brought in Claudio Bravo.
Also read: Fantasy Premier League Tips: 5 bargain forwards this season
This season, the English goalkeeper returns to his country to play for West Ham United on loan. He'll be looking to make instant impact, otherwise Adrián won't take long in claiming the no.1 goalkeeping slot.
Defence
Having a solid defence is imperative for any top half team, and the Hammers were definitely looking to improve theirs when they landed Manchester City icon Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentine arrives at London after 9 years of loyal service to the Sky Blues, and should nail down a starting spot even with English youngster Sam Byram providing competition.
On the left side, things are certainly more competitive as Aaron Cresswell goes into his 4th season at the club. But the two times English international will have a hard time getting game time because Arthur Masuaku has had, by far, the most impressive pre-season of the pair.
At centre-back, Winston Reid should be partnering Angelo Ogbonna, at least while José Fonte's form stays at the current level. The Euro 16 winner for Portugal was a surprising signing last January but hasn't impressed so far.
Midfield
It's a recurring debate whether West Ham's formation is a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, but for this article we'll consider it as the former, presenting our readers with a midfield three: from the two deep centre mids that make this team only one is guaranteed a starting role - Pedro Obiang.
The Spaniard had an amazing second season at the club after being average in his debut season. He was one of the most consistent performers over the course of the season and will be looking to repeat his 16/17 efforts. Club captain Mark Noble will be fighting for a spot with youngster Edimilson Fernandes. The presence of Cheikhou Kouyaté will add more steel to the midfield, though, so expect him to start.
In front of these two players we'll see Payet's understudy Manuel Lanzini in the trequartista role, linking midfield and attack with slick passing and his flair. Robert Snodgrass will find it hard to get game time over the Argentine magician.
Attack
West Ham United's attack is definitely worthy of a European spot, as Hammer of the Year Michail Antonio beats Feghouli to the right winger slot. The former Nottingham Forest player has impressed playing as a winger, fullback, and even striker at times, being extremely consistent at each of those roles.
On the opposing wing, we'll see last season's most expensive signing Andre Ayew battling with this season's most expensive signing Marko Arnautovic for a starting spot, with the Austrian most likely taking the edge.
The striker will undoubtedly be the Mexican icon Javier Hernandez after joining from Bayer Leverkusen for £15 million. The Little Pea, as he is known, will capitalise on Andy Carroll's current injury to nail down a starting spot for the season and could be the missing piece of the jigsaw.
