“Spot on” – A lot of West Ham fans have picked out the midfield as the weakest area for the Hammers and have noted the sale of a few central midfielders in the past two windows without any replacements brought in.
West Ham currently have Mark Noble, Declan Rice, and Carlos Sanchez as the only three fit central midfield players – with others such as Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals much more comfortable further up the field.
Rice is a good holding midfielder – he is at his best when winning possession and then giving the ball to a more creative or athletic midfielder.
Neither Noble nor Sanchez fit this role, and to many West Ham fans, it explains why they are struggling in the league.
Jack Wilshere is a creative player, but he is never fit.
The Hammers sold Pedro Obiang and Cheikhou Kouyate, both of whom had good engines and could drive up the pitch.
What is West Ham's main problem?
Goalkeeper
Defence
Midfield
Forwards
This would have been fine if they were adequately replaced, but they weren’t, and this has left the West Ham midfield slow and immobile, and many Irons supporters feel that this area needs to be overhauled.
See the best of the reaction below.
Before Pellegrini came in, our CM options were Noble, Kouyate, Obiang, Fernandes and Cullen.
Since his arrival, he has sold Kouyate, Fernandes and Obiang, and brought in Sanchez and Wilshere.
Our biggest problem area for the last 2/3 seasons has been neglected for far too long.
— West Ham Fan Zone (@WHUFCFZ) November 12, 2019
Pellegrini was assured if he sold Obiang (who he convinced to stay another year) he’d be able to bring in his choice of midfielder.
The board then decided he could make do another year until Aranguiz is available on a free. Typical short sighted penny pinching by the board. pic.twitter.com/keAA47E5xV
— Irons In The Fire (@I_I_T_F) November 12, 2019
I’ve never hidden the fact that I wanted at least one CM with energy, bite & pace. But last summer we not only released 4 CM but also 4 ST & the owners expect to replace with a net spend of £23.7m without offloading a highly prized star. Absolutely delusional.
— William Field (@wilfield71) November 12, 2019
It’s okay the William Carvallho deal will go through at some point!
Massive problem area like you say. We should of got to the point where we didn’t need to rely on Noble— Matt ⚒ Gladwell (@CarltonGoal) November 12, 2019
100% correct ! Centre mid and no ‘ legs ‘ is our biggest problem.
Pellegrini has had 3 transfer windows to sort it and hasn’t .
He has failed— Paolo (@ellingford_paul) November 12, 2019
Spot on. We are a team full of number 10s
— Jas Uppal WHUFC ⚒ (@Jsu74Uppal) November 13, 2019
So true
— Benjamin ????????➡️ (@benjamin2018x) November 12, 2019
Couldn’t agree more
— Guitar Glasgow (@Guitarglasgow) November 12, 2019