Three things to look out for against West Bromwich Albion

After a disappointing result last week, West Ham are looking to bounce back and get their second win of the season against West Brom. Here are three things to look out for…

Can Michail Antonio keep up his form?

It was a difficult start to the season for Antonio given that he often started out of position at right-back. Yes, he did score a few goals from that position last season but we all knew that he could not play there consistently yet this was the case at the start of this season. Our poor form did not help and Antonio was often criticised due to his inability to be defensively disciplined.

This all changed after the game against Chelsea. Antonio was subbed off in the 52nd minute and has now returned to the form that won him praise last season. A return to an attacking position has meant that he has scored four times in five games. Alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Costa, Antonio is the Premier League’s top goalscorer with four goals. Can Antonio continue this form and make it five in six?

Can the team respond to the negative press?

We all had high hopes for the new stadium though it’s fair to say that things have not gone to plan since we moved in. We can’t ignore that fans have been angered due to our poor performances on the pitch. We’ve seen the team get knocked out of the Europa League and rather than the team responding with improved performances, Watford score four goals in a row to win the game after being 2-0 down in our new home.

But that is no excuse for fighting a fellow fan, fighting with opposition fans or breaking the rules of the stadium. Violence has no place in football and this should not be taking place in any home or away games. There have been calls for a police presence in our future games at London Stadium though as reported by the BBC, this request has been turned down as the ground does not have a ‘satisfactory radio system’. After a week of negative press, can the team put in a stunning performance and have the club in the headlines for a good reason rather than bad?

Getting back to basics.

Although we did nearly get Champions League football last season we cannot expect the same this season without hard-work. Yes, we have strengthened in terms of bringing players in but as shown this season, that means little when you do not perfect the basics. In his column for the Evening Standard Slaven Bilic wrote that ‘what brought us all the good things were basics, like running for each other, defending as a team, playing all the time like it is the last minute of the final game of your life’.

Bilic went on to write that playing attractive football is the ‘cherry on top of the cake’ and he is absolutely right. Regardless of how we play our football we need to get back to winning ways before anything else. As shown in the game against Watford, anything can happen. When we score early we cannot assume that the game is won. It isn’t. The team must continue to work hard and as said by Bilic, ‘we have to get back that edge, that hunger’.