Amongst all the in-fighting and finger pointing at West Ham United after a terrible start to the season Winston Reid has escaped attention.
West Ham United’s Winston Reid remonstrates with the assistant referee before being booked
When Slaven Bilic took over from Sam Allardyce the majority of West Ham fans felt their star defender Reid should replace the departing Kevin Nolan as the club’s captain.
At the time it was argued Reid was the only player in the Hammers side guaranteed to start every week.
Instead that honour went to died-in-the-wool West Ham fan and midfielder Mark Noble and few can argue he hasn’t done a good job after leading his side to their best ever Premier League points total in their emotional last season at Upton Park.
But the East Londoners have got off to a terrible start this season.
West Ham United’s Adrian, Dimitri Payet and team mates look dejected
Bilic’s side have lost three of their opening four Premier League matches and scraped past Bournemouth in their solitary victory while also being embarrassingly dumped out of the Europa League by Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu for the second season running.
Fans at at each other’s throats over standing at their new 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium home while Karren Brady – who spearheaded the club’s move to Stratford – was allegedly spat at by her own supporters as things turned sour in a 4-2 home defeat to Watford last time out.
Hammers fans leave amid terrace fighting and the humiliating defeat against Watford
A toxic atmosphere is starting to fester at West Ham and fans are beginning to question some of Bilic’s team selections and tactics.
The likes of Sam Byram, James Collins, Manuel Lanzini and Adrian were criticised by supporters after the Watford debacle.
And Bilic’s continued use of Michail Antonio at right back is fast becoming his Achilles heel as a manager.
One player who has seemingly escaped any blame, though, is Reid – the man linked with some of Europe’s top clubs before a long standing contract tussle ended in him signing a new six-year deal last year.
Painful: Reid is out of sorts
If truth be told, Reid’s form dipped last season and he has been a shadow of the player who formed the bedrock of West Ham’s resurgence in recent years.
Errors last season and rash tackles proved particularly costly – Chelsea and Manchester United away last season in the Premier League and FA Cup respectively.
They were just two in a long line of examples, though, as the injury-prone New Zealander was in and out of the side for spells.
Statistically Collins actually forged a much better centre back partnership with Italy international Angelo Ogbonna last season conceding a quarter of the goals the Hammers leaked with Reid in the side.
It was glossed over by West Ham’s superb season and the odd steady performance like including scoring the last ever goal at the Boleyn Ground in that thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester United.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
This season Reid has continued to look out of sorts and is like a jittery bag of nerves every time he takes to the field.
His awkward displays have been rubbing off on his teammates and he has shown no command of the back four.
Consistently caught out of position for second balls the curious case of Reid is puzzling. Playing through injury? A change of tactics by Bilic? Or just a loss of form?
Many supporters cannot understand why Ogbonna has been dropped but if recent performances are anything to go by it won’t be long until he takes Reid’s place in the starting line-up, even if it means Bilic tinkering with his defence yet again.
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