Should West Ham fans be worried?

Should West Ham fans be worried? One point off of the relegation zone, two points from the last possible 21, and three points just a distant memory. The stats, when looked at in isolation, don’t bode well for a comfortable campaign.

Indeed they point to another relegation battle rather than safety, or even a scrap over European places. So why am I not worried (well I am, but more of a quiet concern than panic mode)?

Let’s take a look at the team and its performances. One week taking Newcastle apart, the next struggling against a ten man Fulham; one week breathtaking for 80 minutes, the next very average. How can this be? Well for a start it looks like our man Zola is falling into the same trap Pardew did when his squad got too big for his experience of managing up to that point.

During Pardew’s final season, he tried to keep all the strikers happy by swapping and changing them every week, with the expected outcome of no one really getting a run and a chance of getting a few goals. It was during this time that we had that incredibly long spell without scoring. The same could be said for Zola.

Although I applaud his tactics in having three strikers on the pitch, and against Arsenal we had four strikers on by the end, they are strikers that are not prolific or proven goal scorerers, with the possible exception of Bellamy, who is himself enduring a lean patch.

Had we maybe had Ashton up front leading the line instead of the much improved, but still not good enough Cole, maybe we would be closer to Europe than the championship.

So Zola really needs to look at his squad and pick what he thinks is his best eleven, then work around that, or decide on a system and pick his players to suit that. Even better have two or three systems the squad is comfortable with and with it maintain an air of unpredictability. When considering this, he should also take into account the limitations of the players at his disposal.

Playing narrow with three up front requires exceptional one touch passing to break teams down. Although we can play like this, it often breaks down leaving us exposed to pacey counter attacks, the very element West Ham are set up for. One thing is for sure though, if Zola keeps changing his team (look at the different midfield variations we’ve had already this year, not to mention the striker situation) and system week in week out the players will never gel with each other or the system.

So why am I not worried? Well the thing we have over other clubs is exceptional strength in depth (at least until January). Who in the bottom half of the table can boast a midfield like ours? Parker, Noble, Bowyer, Mullins, Etherington, Behrami, Faubert, Luis Boa Morte, and the tenacious Collison. Note they have all played a part in midfield this season; surely that is too many cooks for any sort of cohesive broth to be produced.

So if Zola can just settle on a team (the other option of changing the team every week will leave us in a precarious position I fear), and let the others know they have to fight for a place in the starting eleven, and let the starting eleven know there are players waiting to take their place, then we should start to get the results that the performances have deserved.