FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

FFTVERDICT

FourFourTwo Season Preview 2019-20 41

FELIPEANDERSON

Inhisfirstseasonafterarrivingfora club-record

transfer,theBrazilianstarted 34 PremierLeague

gamesandwasexquisiteinhalfofthem.If he

canaddconsistencynowhe’sadjusted,West

Ham’sattackcouldposea problemforanyone.

KEY PLAYER

10

TH

VIEW FROM THE STAn DS

JIM KEARNS @THEHLIST

The big talking point among the

fans is whether our transfer policy

has truly turned a corner, or if we’ll

soon return to signing injury-prone

wasters and footballers who were

good in 2012. By now we’d usually

have signed Daniel Sturridge and

Gary Cahill, but instead it’s Spanish

starlet Pablo Fornals and Sebastien

Haller. It’s almost enough to get

excited, until you remember we

signed Jack Wilshere last year.

The pantomime villain will be

Frank Lampard, Chelsea manager.

That might be fun.

The opposition player I secretly

admire is Son Heung-min.

The one change I’d make to

the club would be to rip up the

running track, rebuild the stands

so they’re in the same postcode

as the pitch, institute a policy of

never buying players over 25,

employ some actual medical

professionals, let the players train

at a professional training ground,

build an analytics team, and have

a scouting department instead of

agents. But if I can have only one

then it’d be a change of owners.

Our most underrated player is

Alisha Lehmann, the best player

that our fans don’t know we have.

Look out for Ben Johnson.

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer

is that he’s very popular, as his

commitment to attacking football

has endeared him to fans who

don’t seem to mind that we’re

often absymal away from home

as a result. He’s decent enough.

I doubt he’ll be under pressure.

If he left, he should be replaced

by Julian Nagelsmann.

We’ll finish 10th.

FIVE-POIn T PLAn

1

KEEP PLAYERS FIT

Pellegrini had to work without half
of a starting XI in his first season:
Wilshere, Carlos Sanchez, Lanzini,
Yarmolenko, Andy Carroll and Winston
Reid all spent most of the 2018-19
campaign unavailable. The fact that he
still managed to swerve a relegation
battle (after October, anyway) suggests
that, with a fully fit squad, Pellegrini
could really achieve something special.

2

CULTIVATE RICE AS

THE NEXT CAPTAIN

Declan Rice spent half of last
season on a contract worth just
£3,000 a week. It was embarrassing.
Now, West Ham should be working
overtime to make the starlet feel extra
special. As Noble gradually bows out of
the side, Rice should take the armband.

3

FIND A CONSISTENT

FRONTMAN

Arnautovic started 24 matches
and scored 10 goals last season.
Javier Hernandez managed 14 starts
and seven goals. Andy Carroll was

• unsurprisingly – injured throughout,
  starting only two games, while fellow
  departee Lucas Perez started just four.
  At its best, Pellegrini’s system needs
  the smaller, trickier playmakers to buzz
  around a focal point. That will be new
  £45 million signing Sebastien Haller –
  if he can perform consistently, this
  Hammers team will function properly.

4

PLAY EVERY GAME AS IF

IT’S A LONDON DERBY

West Ham beat Crystal Palace at
home, Fulham home and away,
Arsenal at home and, beautifully, Spurs
away. The roar and passion generated
in the London derbies is reminiscent of
the old times at Upton Park. Now the
Irons need to create that atmosphere
against Brighton and Burnley, too.

5

SHAMPOO THAT CARPET

For two years, Irons fans were
promised a lush new claret carpet
surrounding the pitch. Then, on
April 20, it finally appeared. West Ham
promptly drew 2-2 with Leicester and
Michail Antonio celebrated his goal by
luxuriating in the gorgeous deep-pile.
Inspired, the team went on to win their
final three Premier League games of
the season. Coincidence? Of course not.

SEASOn PREVIEW

Staycentralbefore

going to Stratford.

There’s little around

the ground, but for

the odd hipster bar

by Hackney Wick

station or Westfield

shopping centre.

WestHamIndependent

Supporters’ Association

@WHU_ISA is giving

Hammers fans a say,

while tongue-in-cheek

blog @Hammers_Chat

provides fun diversion at

work during the week.

TheHammers’ 1964

FA Cup Final-winning

XI included Brabrook,

Brown, Burkett, Bond,

Boyce, Byrne and

Bovington. Brilliant.

EastEndpieandmash, but even

the iconic Nathan’s Pies and Eels

at Upton Park has closed down

since the move. Try Leytonstone.

GetofftheJubileea stopearly

at West Ham and walkalongthe

Greenway for a more relaxing, even

beautiful route to the stadium.

MATCHDAY PACK

AWAY PUB

SIGn ATURE DISH WHILE YOU’RE HERE...

DID YOU MUST FOLLOW

K nOW...?

AUGUST

10 Man City (h)

17 Brighton (a)

24 Watford (a)

31 Norwich (h)

SEPTEMBER

16 Aston Villa (a)

22 Man United (h)

28 Bournemouth (a)

OCTOBER

5 Crystal Palace (h)

19 Everton (a)

26 Sheffield United (h)

NOVEMBER

2 Newcastle (h)

9 Burnley (a)

23 Tottenham (h)

30 Chelsea (a)

DECEMBER

3 Wolves (a)

7 Arsenal (h)

14 Southampton (a)

21 Liverpool (h)

26 Crystal Palace (a)

28 Leicester (h)

JANUARY

1 Bournemouth (h)

11 Sheffield United (a)

18 Everton (h)

21 Leicester (a)

FEBRUARY

1 Brighton (h)

8 Man City (a)

22 Liverpool (a)

29 Southampton (h)

MARCH

7 Arsenal (a)

14 Wolves (h)

21 Tottenham (a)

APRIL

4 Chelsea (h)

11 Newcastle (a)

18 Burnley (h)

25 Norwich (a)

MAY

2 Watford (h)

9 Man United (a)

17 Aston Villa (h

FIXTURES

Improve their consistency

and the Hammers are an

outside bet for Europe.