In the 2019 off-season, there was palpable excitement at the London Stadium, in light of West Ham’s seemingly shrewd bits of transfer business and their strong finish to the end of last term. Additionally, the presence of Manuel Pellegrini meant that the Hammers fancied their chances of getting back into Europe and upsetting the established order.
However, after 16 Premier League matches, the East Londoners find themselves languishing in 16th spot, having accumulated just 16 points. More worryingly though, West Ham have shipped in 28 goals in those fixtures while they’ve managed to make the net bulge only 18 times.
Consequently, the club has been thrown into turmoil and those veils of discontent reached a crescendo after the Hammers threw away a one-goal lead to go down to an equally struggling Arsenal side.
After the game, if reports are to be believed, the West Ham hierarchy discussed Pellegrini’s future, with the Chilean not covering himself in any glory in the current campaign. And, although the club seem reluctant to change their manager mid-way through a season, a run of 1 win in their previous 11 encounters has forced their hand somewhat.
A number of potential replacements have been doing the rounds in recent weeks, with many even earmarking David Moyes and Rafa Benitez as candidates to take over. However, at this juncture, there has been no concrete announcement by West Ham regarding a change in manager, although it has now become clear that they’re discussing the possibility of a tweak. Thus, it would be interesting to see how this narrative pans out.
On the footballing front, the Hammers take on fellow relegation scrappers, Southampton on Saturday at the London Stadium, as the former hopes to snap its wretched home record this term.
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