Football Season Guide

Difficult last season W5 D4 L13. Only the relegated Leicester scored fewer that West Ham’s 20 goals. Still they finished 10th and stayed well clear of the last place. The managerial change right before Christmas brought a positive shift. Played much better football in the spring under Italian Rita Guarino. She managed to improve the forward actions by giving mobile Ueki complete freedom. The Japanese scored 4 vital goals in the spring. Going forward Guarino hopes to build a strong physical back line. She brought in from Italy the ex-Juventus CB Estelle Cascarino in the winter. Another tall and very imposing CB Nadine Riesen arrived this summer. The pair should dominate in the air. Practice lots of set pieces in attack with them directly involved too. The main departure this summer was that of the top goalscorer Shekiera Martinez. She struggled with injuries a lot last season so moving on from her wasn’t illogical. There has been no serious reinforcement in attack. Yet, Guarino prefers mobile front line with 3 wingers so Martinez wasn’t fitting anyway. Ueki and Asseyi should play key roles in attack. Morgan and newcomer Gago also should feature often. Remains to be seen if between them they can produce enough goals to keep West Ham safe. The overall feel is that the team is slightly better than last season. Also, Guarino would have had much more time in the summer to mould the tactics to her liking.