West Ham have been disappointing to say the least so far this campaign.
The season started with so much promise – Sebastien Haller had been brought in for a club-record fee from Eintracht Frankfurt after scoring 20 goals and providing 12 assists in the previous season, whilst Declan Rice and Issa Diop stayed at the club despite plenty of interest from Manchester United in their services.
Although they lost the first game of the season 5-0 to Manchester City, that was their only defeat in their opening seven matches.
However, the positivity soon dwindled away, and they are now in a far from comfortable position. As it is, they are in 16th place in the Premier League table, level on points with 18th. Haller has managed just seven league goals to date, whilst Diop has failed to prevent the Hammers from becoming one of the worst defences in the top flight – they have conceded 50 goals already this season.
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There is some good news for David Moyes, though. On Tuesday, Andriy Yarmolenko played 90 minutes for the Irons’ U23 squad, against Derby County. The Ukraine international has struggled with injuries so far this campaign – he has missed 11 fixtures due to a muscle tear – but he now looks as though he is ready to return to first-team football in the near future.
In the nine starts he has managed in the Premier League when he has been fit, he has impressed, scoring three goals and providing one assist as well. Although he has managed just 0.4 successful dribbles per game, that has worked out at a success rate of 67%, which is not to be sniffed at.
At his best, the right-winger can terrorise opposition defences – in the Europa League in 2014/15, for example, he managed four goals and seven assists for Dynamo Kiev, whilst he has 37 goals in 86 caps for his country. Even this term, his strikes have been important – he scored the first goal in the 2-0 win against Manchester United, whilst the £115k-a-week wide man also bagged the opener in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth.
So far, Moyes has not been able to put the 30-year-old to good use, but he will soon have that chance. With the Premier League to be suspended until April 3rd because of COVID-19, this should give Yarmolenko even more time to prepare for the physicality of the top flight. Moyes needs something to save his campaign – the former Borussia Dortmund man’s return could very well be it.
Meanwhile, West Ham must avoid a Glen Johnson situation with this man.