Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has shared his views on West Ham United ahead of the start of the 2017/18 season.
Reviewing last season and previewing the next season, Charlie Nicholas has stirred up some controversy with some questionable opinions.
Asked about our new transfers, Nicholas says that the arrival of Joe Hart is a major bonus given the leaky defence that was on show at times.
Talking more about the leaky defence, Charlie Nicholas claimed that we should sign another centre back, despite having Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, James Collins, Jose Fonte and Declan Rice in the first team squad.
He also believes that Javier Hernandez could be the striker West Ham are looking for if he gets good service.
However, he added this about the service:
“Chicharito could score a lot of goals if they create enough chances, but that’s a big ‘if’, especially with Manuel Lanzini being too inconsistent.”
With fourteen goals and four assists in two years in the Premier League, Lanzini is held with high regard by West Ham and is being pursued by Liverpool as a direct replacement for Philippe Coutinho.
The 24-year-old has been called up by Argentina, our owners have insisted he will not be sold for any price and he was the Players’ Player of the Year – hardly inconsistent!
Furthermore, Charlie Nicholas claimed that West Ham’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur last season was “embarrassing”.
The Hammers all but ended Spurs’ title hopes and confirmed their own survival on the same night as Lanzini notched the only goal in a 1-0 victory at the London Stadium.
However, this was Nicholas’ view on the game:
“It was embarrassing how they turned up against Tottenham to stop them winning the title because that sort of performance was so uncharacteristic given the way they rolled over against the other top sides.”
Considering West Ham were scrapping for our lives in that game, and were in real danger of getting sucked towards the drop zone if we lost, it is hardly fair to describe that top display as “embarrassing” – especially as Spurs only had an outside chance of winning the league by that stage anyway!
There was still time for one more controversial opinion by Nicholas.
Predicting where the Irons would finish, the Sky Sports pundit said:
“Unless Bilic adds some more players and keeps Winston Reid, I still see too many weakness.
“I don’t see them finishing above 10th.”
I’m not saying that we will finish any higher than 10th but to say that you “don’t see them finishing above 10th” suggests that it would be extremely unlikely.
Considering we finished 11th last season despite being awful, I believe that we could improve significantly to overtake the likes of Bournemouth and West Brom, especially considering the fact that we’ve addressed every problem position in this transfer window.
I’m sure West Ham fans would love to prove Charlie Nicholas wrong.
