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Which Premier League club had the strangest season? West Ham United. In fact, it was a reasonable bet before the start of the season. But that's not your typical West Ham strangeness. This has only little or nothing to do with the incompetence of the owner, the anger of the fans or even with the London stadium. This is especially what happened on the ground – which for West Ham makes it strange in itself.
What happened first on the pitch was that the team lost their first four league games. The opposition was tough: Liverpool, Arsenal, Wolves and a fast-starting Bournemouth. But that was not supposed to happen, certainly not under Manuel Pellegrini.
Only one Jack Wilshere started all four matches. He was neither the answer nor the right question, and he quickly lost his sight, managing only five minutes in December. Ankle problems, you know, but it was clear that he was not going to solve the recurring problem of the Hammers midfielder.
And then all of a sudden, that was solved with the emergence of Declan Rice. The previous season, he had started 15 games, almost all at the center. In fact, his only two starts in the middle of the field had been nightmarish. He was even removed from the match against Newcastle after his mistake led directly to an opposing goal.
His beginnings under Pellegrini did not suggest that he was the solution either. But in the weeks 5-7, against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United – two convincing victories around a 0-0 draw – he arrived at peaking. And it was just that. He is now ready to play for England.
Meanwhile, Felipe Anderson proved to be the most exciting new player in the league, with a full game at the attack, as well as a pretty useful defense. Starting with the win over Manchester United, he scored 8 goals in 13 games, finishing the race just after Christmas with a pair of quick shots that turned the game in Southampton.
And then, suddenly, he became ordinary. It is now 11 without aim. The percentage of completions at the Southampton match was 77.5, then 73.8. Shots per game went from 1.68 to 0.91. After a terrible first weekend of 45 minutes in Cardiff City, Pellegrini shot him.
As we speak of sudden changes, here is Samir Nasri. When it was acquired in January, it seemed like the odd thing: a high-paying player who had not played for almost a year. On what he started against Arsenal and was frankly brilliant. He started the following week against Bournemouth, then was injured. He has only played twice in the last seven games, not to mention more than 45 minutes.
Then there is the strange case of Marko Arnautovic, who went from pariah to hero under David Moyes, and who remained a beloved figure until January, when he (suddenly this word was said) has declared to want to go to China. Maybe it was just a way to get a new contract, which he naturally signed only a few weeks later. But since then, he has hardly contributed, supplanted by Javier Hernández, and even by Andy Carroll.
And what about Robert Snodgrbad, one of the most unlikely regulars in the league? Although he was relegated to the cities of Norwich and Hull City, West Ham tried his luck and signed it in January 2017. Seven months later, "he was told he could leave the club", according to the euphemism. But as there were no buyers, he spent the year on loan to accumulate numbers with Aston Villa in the championship. This season, rising to a level and exceeding 30, he could not expect that he be watched by Pellegrini. But he made 28 appearances (21 starts), with his badists / 90 and badists / 90 highest of his career in the Premier League.
Until now, we have mainly focused on individual players. Perhaps even stranger was the wide swing in the team's performance. For example, in the first four defeats, the team seemed helpless and outclbaded, in the next three games, confident and strong.
But it was nothing compared to their adventures later. After the emotional victory against Southampton, they had won five of six and were rolling. Then they went to Burnley and were completely crushed. Without disrespect, Burnley is not used to being crushed. It was easily the highest total of Clarets in the Premier League xG in one game, and their highest margin in a single match xG. That even includes their 4-0 win this year on Bournemouth.
Ok, maybe a stroke of luck. These things happen, if not often. What can you say last weekend? After only one in five defeats and a brave effort against Manchester City, the Hammers went to Cardiff … and crashed even worse. At the hour of play, they had been led 14-2. You guessed it, the Bluebirds posted their highest xG of the season and their highest margin xG, both light-years. I just can not remember that a decent game was hit so hard by two candidates for relegation.
"Decent" is exactly the word for that too. All strangeness has paradoxically resulted in a clbadic mid-season season. In the past 15 weeks, they have never been greater than ninth or less than twelfth. Although Burnley and Cardiff suspended six away games, West Ham scored just one goal. From a penalty. S addressing the press after the Cardiff scandal, Pellegrini said: "This is not normal. We must talk to the players during the week. But they are two higher places in the table than after Burnley's match. Bizarre.
I guess fans will take it, though. Percentage, West Ham is the most improved club in the league of last season. They finally seem to have a direction, owners spending real money on players and an accomplished manager. And wonderfully, the London Stadium has become, if not a fortress, at least a pill box, where they have lost only once in their last eight games. Europe may be a little out of reach this season, but its two recent incursions on the continent have been disasters and home cooking will do very well for a while.
This Saturday? West Ham are home to Huddersfield. A simple victory, you would figure. But how lucky is a triplet Arnautovic or a Nasri master clbad, or an Andy Carroll goal out of the box (six years and over 50 attempts since last)? This year everything is possible. Except one: a banner of supporters congratulating the owners. It would be too strange.
Peter Goldstein
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