TOUGH. Can West Ham iron out their mistakes?

Changing head coach mid-season is always tricky. Players have to get used to another system. Some will be out of favour or don’t suit the new tactics. But new boss Rita Guarino is down-to-earth about the challenge she faces in her second season in charge of West Ham.

Looking at multiple key departures from East London in the summer, however, Abiola Sholagbade has some home truths for the Hammers…

West Ham had a tough season last year finishing tenth on 19 points. Their one bright spark – and they were few and far between for the Hammers – was Shekiera Martinez, who scored six goals in 20 WSL games and 10 across all competitions. But sadly for West Ham, she has moved to North London to join a young and improving Tottenham side.

The Irons really struggled last year and one of the reasons was the team’s crippling lack of goals, only scoring 20 goals in 22 games. Their defence was also a massive issue, as they averaged 2.00 goals conceded per match, which was the second worst in the league. Plus they struggled away from home, losing eight games not at the Chigwell Community Stadium.

It was an overall incredibly tough year for West Ham, but the cups were a small highlight in their season. In the Women’s League Cup (now known as the WSL Player’s Cup) they topped their group, but they ran into the champions Man City and were well beaten 5-1. In the FA Cup they beat Newcastle United 3-0, but then lost against eventual finalists Brighton 2-1.

KEY HAMMERS

West Ham have multiple players whose performances will absolutely decide their season.

The first is Ffion Morgan (below, right). The pacy Wales winger had three goal contributions last season in a down year. Morgan can be a useful asset on both parts of the right flank, as she is in the 85th percentile for defensive contributions for wingers. She only started 10 games last year but with more playing time she could make a big impact in a team that struggled defensively.

Kelly Gago signed from Everton and played 15 times for Everton, six of those being starts. She had four goals in 15 appearances in the league with an additional goal in the League Cup, and is a tall and powerful striker who specialises in the air. She won 16 aerial duels in the 703 minutes she played, which put her in the 67th percentile for aerial duels amongst strikers. Gago could be an absolutely crucial addition to a team that lost their top scorer last year in Shekieira Martinez.

Riko Ueki (above, left) was arguably West Ham’s best performing player last year. She had seven goal contributions in an interrupted season where she went to the Asian Cup with Japan. And here, she was absolutely integral to Japan, becoming the team’s and tournament’s top scorer with six goals. Ueki didn’t play in the team’s first game, but in Japan’s 11-0 rout of India she scored a hat-trick and set up another goal. And in their final group game against Vietnam she opened up the scoring in a 4-0 win. Japan then scored 6 against the Phillipines, with Riko adding the 7th goal in the 90th minute to take Japan to the semis against South Korea. She added the first goal in the semi-final which ended 4-1 to Japan. Riko did not score in the final but Japan ended up winning the tournament through a Maika Hamano goal in the 17th minute. If she can maintain that momentum for her club, the Hammers’ season could have a different ending.

INCOMING

Along with signing Gago, West Ham have been active in the window though, acquiring a mix of youth and experience.

Sienna Wareing from Man United is definitely a signing for the future. The former Auburn Tiger signs for West Ham coming off a season where she was Manchester United’s U21 Player of the Year and received her first call up for England U19s. The former Liverpool Fed is highly touted by Rita Guarino, who says: “Sienna is a player that we believe has a lot of potential. She is a creative midfielder who can make things happen in the final third.”

Constance Picaud-Inconnu the former FC Fleury 91 keeper has Champions League experience and could be a great replacement for the Polish international Kinga Szemik who left for Hamburg.

Laia Codina (below, right) struggled in her last year at Arsenal, but West Ham will hope a change of scenery can bolster her form. Nadine Riesen will look to help shore up the defence that conceded 45 goals last year, the former Eintracht Frankfurt CB has been playing senior women’s football for 11 years and she’s only 26 so hopefully that experience can be valuable as West Ham potentially struggle.

Niamh Peacock is a young and exciting full back who played academy football for Arsenal and if she gets sufficient game time she could shine.

Ebony Salmon (above, centre) and Kelly Gago (above, left) both struggled last year, but they are both talented attacking players who can do well in the right system. They come in from Aston Villa and Everton respectively.

Estelle Cascarino signed for West Ham in January on loan from Juve, and the signing was made permanent in this window. She was a rare bright spot in an overall dire West Ham defence, placing in the 92nd percentile for duels won.

Sarah Brasero, Katie O’Hanlon, Selin Cemal and Halle Houssein were all on loan at the club and their stays were all made permanent.

END GAME

So what will be West Ham’s final position? The Hammers have clearly improved their team but losing Shekiera Martinez, Shelina Zadorsky, Kinga Szemik, and Katrina Gorry – who all played at least 12 games for the team last year – could result in a loss of team chemistry. And their replacements will have to deal with learning a brand new system, and fast!

Again, you have to say that West Ham have improved, but teams around them have probably improved even more. So it might well be that West Ham’s ceiling will be 12th and their floor is relegation. Their saving grace may be another transfer window in January, of course, and Rita Guarino will surely be able to further impose her tactical nous on the team…