West Ham United have struggled this season in the Premier League, switching managers back in January in an attempt to save their season. However, the Hammers still sit 15th in the Premier League after 31 games played.
Defensively, West Ham have improved under Graham Potter, but this has affected their offensive purchase, scoring just six goals in their last six Premier League games. The Hammers also rank 15th for xG generated this season, with 44.42 xG across their 31 Premier League games so far.
Their striker issue is a well-documented one this season, with both Michail Antonio and Niclas Füllkrug suffering from injuries, but this isn’t a new issue at the club, as the Hammers have struggled to nail down that number nine spot for some time.
West Ham's striker issues
In recent years, West Ham have had the likes of Sebastian Haller and Gianluca Scamacca join the club for big transfer fees, never really living up to the expectation, before leaving soon after to thrive elsewhere in Europe. These are just two examples of failed attempts by West Ham to address their need for a top-class number nine.
Haller was signed for around £45m, a club-record fee at the time, going on to make just 54 appearances for the club, scoring 14 goals and providing one assist in his 3,681 minutes played.
Meanwhile, Scamacca cost the Hammers around £35.5m, making 27 appearances for the club, netting eight times in 1,342 minutes.
But perhaps one of their worst was the loan signing of Simone Zaza from Juventus in 2016. The Italian only made 11 appearances for the Hammers, scoring zero goals, providing zero assists and totaling just 572 minutes played, before being sent back to Italy at the end of the season.
West Ham's newest Zaza
West Ham have looked to address their striker issues with a loan signing once more, bringing Brighton striker Evan Ferguson to the club in the January transfer window.
The 20-year-old has made six appearances for Potter’s side, totaling 137 minutes played with zero goals or assists so far.
Minutes
45
Touches
20
Big Chances Missed
1
Shots
1
Accurate Passes
7/9
Ground Duels Won
2/5
Aerial Duels Won
0/1
Possession Lost
8
Tackles
1
The 20-year-old striker was taken off after just 45 minutes against Wolves in their 1-0 loss midweek, being replaced by summer signing, Fullkrug. Ferguson only managed 20 touches in the game, losing possession eight times and missing his only “big chance”, with The Athletic’s Carl Anka outlining the Irishman’s “unfortunate” decline of late.
Potter didn’t hide his frustration with the first-half performance, stating “we weren’t happy with the overall performance in the first half”. But he was quick to praise the man who replaced Ferguson, stating “you can see he gives us a different option which we haven’t had”.
That resulted in Ferguson ultimately proving an unused substitute for Saturday’s 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth, with that man Fullkrug notably netting off the bench just after the hour mark. The Brighton man has then plummeted even further down the pecking order.
With games running out ahead of the climax of the campaign, this could prove to be yet another brief, unsuccessful loan swoop – much like the case of Zaza of before him.
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