The 2015/16 Premier
League season may have finished on a low note for West Ham United
after a 2-1 defeat by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on the
final day left them in seventh place. However, the Europa League
place on offer to FA Cup winners Manchester United – who had
already qualified for the Europa League by finishing fifth in the
Premier League – was passed down to the Hammers, who will join the
competition in the third qualifying round.
The Irons have, of
course, vacated the Boleyn Ground, their home for 112 years, for the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium on the London 2012 Olympic Park, but
that’s not the only thing fans have to look forward to in 2016/17.
Former centre back Slaven Bilic was a Hammers’ cult hero even
before coming manager last summer and subsequent signings of
established European players, such as Dimitri Payet from Marseille,
and promising domestic talent, such as Michail Antonio from
Nottingham Forest, have done little to diminish his aura.
In fact, as well as
securing new deals for Payet and Antonio, along with team-mates
Adrian and Cheikhou Kouyate, Bilic has already signed Norwegian
midfielder Havard Nordtveit from Borussia Monchengladbach and
Algerian winger Sofiane Feghouli from Valencia. Payet was top scorer
for West Ham last season, with 12 goals – top scoring striker Andy
Carroll managed just 9 goals – and Bilic has reportedly been
tracking German striker Mario Gomez during Euro 2016.
It’s been a while
since a rare Trevor Brooking header was enough for the Hammers, then
in the old Second Division, to beat Arsenal 1-0 in the 1980 FA Cup
final, but Bilic’s side are 25/1 to repeat the feat in 2015/16 and
100/1 to lift the Premier League title; notably they’re just 4/1 to
finish in the top six in the Premier League.
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