Given that West Ham currently sit rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, it may seem an act of folly to cast an eye over their players, but a run of games for the Hammers that reads (WBA, BLP, liv, WIG, sun, MCY) means they are at least worth considering.
With Avram Grant’s side managing just one clean sheet since the start of the season, it’s perhaps wise to steer clear of defensive options, so, instead, we take a look at their front three: Frédéric Piquionne, Carlton Cole and Victor Obinna.
Piquionne
The ex-Pompey man comes into this Gameweek’s showdown with West Brom on the back of a goal and 3 Bonus Points in the Hammers 2-2 draw away to Birmingham. His form at Upton Park is not too shabby either, scoring 2 goals in 5 games, despite the fact he’s only finished the 90 mins twice.
As this heat map from the Birmingham game shows, he’s mainly stationed out on the right of the front three, though Obinna’s movement and Cole’s hold-up play allows him to drift inside, where his shooting has been the most impressive of all the West Ham forwards thus far; despite having three shots against Alex McLeish’s men (half of both Obinna and Cole’s totals) he was the only one to find the net. The fact he has also been taking direct free-kicks only adds to his threat.
With a total of 3 goals, 1 assist and 7 Bonus Points, Piquionne is the top-scoring Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for the Hammers so far this season, with 40 points to his name. Coming in at £5.1m and owned by just 1.6% of managers, he could well be worth a gamble, with those next three home games all being definitely winnable.
Obinna
His strength and direct running adds an extra dimension to West Ham’s play, and it’s notable that of the eight league games he’s played in since making his debut in September, the Hammers have only failed to score once, in Gameweek Ten’s narrow 1-0 defeat at Arsenal. Prior to his introduction to first-team matters, West Ham had failed to score in two of their three games, an indication of his impact.
This heat map (v Birmingham) shows just how much freedom Obinna plays with. Initially starting on the left of the three, he also marauds through the centre and on the right, as well as finding his way around and inside the penalty box to pose plenty threat, illustrated by his six shots at goal against Birmingham. His corner kick duties also add to Obinna’s appeal.
He may not have found the net in the league so far, but it’s not for a want of trying: Obinna has 28 goal attempts, the fifth highest total in the league, despite missing those first three games of the season. Instead, his returns include two assists and 3 Bonus Points in FPL, which accounts somewhat for his low ownership (0.2%) as his price remains at £5.5m.
Cole
His early-season form has saw the centre-forward’s price plummet from £6.5m to £5.8m (with ownership now at 1.4%) in just 11 Gameweeks, but there are signs that Carlton Cole is slowly starting to regain some form. After a few subs appearances, he has started two of the Hammers’ last three games and in those matches, he picked up an assist (against Birmingham) and a goal, at home to Newcastle in his side’s 2-1 loss.
As this heat map from the Birmingham game shows, Cole is the more central of the three, working the opponent’s back line and holding the ball up, looking to exploit space for the two wider players to run into. His weekend performance had Hammers favourite Tony Cottee delighted as Cole had six shots, managing four on target, the most of any player on show that day.
Having scored 10 league goals in each of the last two seasons, Cole is lagging behind with just that one goal to his name so far, and it’s imperative he finds the route to goal over the next few Gameweeks if the Hammers are to climb the table. He may well be on penalties should the chance of a spot-kick arise.
Although West Ham are hardly prolific, their brace at St Andrews last weekend was the first time they’ve bagged more than one goal in a league game, and could be an indicator of their shooting finally improving.
It’s not like they’re struggling to get shots in at goal; with 120 Goal Attempts, the Hammers have the sixth highest number of shots at goal this term and bearing in mind they have scored in every home game so far this season, it’s more than likely they will be adding to their “Goals For” column over these next few gameweeks.
