It’s not been the best of seasons for West Ham United so far, which is a disappointment when you consider how well they finished the 2023/23 campaign.
The Hammers have begun to plummet down the Premier League in much the same way as they had done in the previous season before pulling themselves together and going on a brilliant run in the latter part of the campaign.
There’s nothing to say that a similar fate will befall them in 2023/24, however, the way they’re playing at the moment, something needs to change. Quickly.
One of their biggest problems is a lack of goals from their strikers.
Per WhoScored, Michail Antonio only has two, the last of which came in August, whilst Danny Ings hasn’t scored or assisted in any of the matches he’s played.
Ahead of the Brentford game at the weekend, it appeared that David Moyes was acknowledging that he knew something had to be done.
“I’m loathe to say he’s (Jarrod Bowen) suddenly a No9 because we might need him to play No7 and do the job that he’s doing there,” he was reported as saying by the Evening Standard.
“But in time I see it changing for Jarrod, I really do. Hopefully, people would have seen my thoughts over a few months. I actually think Freiburg was probably the night, he was terrific that night in Freiburg and I think that made me feel it.
“We had a bit of a blip after the international break but the game the other night got us back on track. And the performance, more importantly, from the likes of Mo and Jarrod and Paqueta got us thinking there are other solutions to what we’ve got here.”
Whether Bowen will now become the de-facto centre-forward and both Ings and Antonio will only be used as back-up isn’t clear, though given Antonio’s age (33), it’s a safe bet that his Hammers career is coming to an end.
With the January window just a couple of months away, easing out both strikers will free up some of the wage bill, and that will allow Moyes and Tim Steidten to be able to freshen the squad up just when it needs it.