I can’t believe the season is over already – it has flown by!
But what a season it has been. Slaven Bilic has done a great job by bringing the whole club back together after years of ‘Allardyce in, Allardyce out’.
The signings he and the board brought in have been brilliant. Angelo Ogbonna has settled now and looks better every week, Manuel Lanzini was a great find, Dimitri Payet has been incredible and Michail Antonio, the player I voted for as Hammer of the Year, has been a real surprise.
Sunday’s defeat to Stoke was disappointing but you can’t really fault the team’s performance. I thought we were by far the better side. The problem is we didn’t take our chances.
In the first half we should have been 2 or 3-0 up, in the second Sakho missed a sitter and Valencia put his free header over the bar, as well as having three shots cleared off the line. Very frustrating!
Howeve,r I didn’t really understand the ‘mini meltdown’ some fans had, where they claimed we ‘bottled it’. No we didn’t. You can’t say we were poor and didn’t deserve to win yesterday. Some fans acted like it was a disaster, finishing 7th. SEVENTH!
Throughout the season we’ve had some great games, the ones that stood out for me were the first day of the season after exiting the Europa League and then, two days later, we beat Arsenal 2-0 with youngster Reece Oxford looking a real class act.
Beating Liverpool away 3-0 was probably my favourite game this season. The way we played and the fact we haven’t won at Anfield for 300 years, it was our best all round performance in my opinion.
Beating Spurs at home is always nice, Antonio stepping up again; we were just well up for it that night and Spurs could do nothing about it.
And then the last ever game at the Boleyn Ground. What can I say, it was the perfect night. The atmosphere was incredible, the performance was incredible and the result was incredible. It was such an emotional game and it still hasn’t really sunk in that we are moving from our home this summer.
Moving onto next season and I think we will be in for a busy summer. Joey O’Brien, Victor Moses, Alex Song and Emmanuel Emenike will surely depart.
I think it is likely Enner Valencia will too, as he just doesn’t seem to suit us. There is a good player somewhere in there, we just don’t see it enough. Sakho may move on too; I’m a fan of his but he’s often injured and hasn’t looked the same player since last year.
Its clear where we need to strengthen, and that is up front. I am sure buying a top class striker will be the club’s priority. Alexandre Lacazette, Mauro Icardi and Michy Batshuayi have all been mentioned as potential targets.
I really think we are a proper goalscorer away from the top 5/6, and perhaps even the top four.
I think we also need an experienced right-back. Sam Byram is one for the future and I would like to see him feature more next season, maybe in the cup games and the odd league game.
I’m pleased to see we have signed Havard Nordviet too, and he is no doubt a replacement for Song. I haven’t seen him play but he was at Arsenal and has had five years of playing in the Bundesliga, which will have given him plenty of experience.
The last word has to be on the England squad announced earlier on Monday. It was no shock to see no West Ham players in it, and Roy Hodgson clearly has an agenda against us.
What frustrates me is he was at the game against Manchester United to watch Noble run rings around Rooney – yet he still doesn’t pick him. I hope he was made to pay for that ticket.
It wasn’t only Noble who missed out, though. Antonio has had a great season, yet Townsend has a few good games in a relegated team and he’s in instead. Cresswell too, he has played almost every game this year and has been brilliant.
It has been a great season for us – thanks to Bilic, the players and the board for an entertaining season. A fitting last season at our home.
