West Ham United have really suffered with injuries to some of their key men this season.
Diafra Sakho celebrates
Hammers striker Diafra Sakho spoke to the club’s official website during an exclusive interview, and explained that the back problem that he has only just recovered from has been an ongoing issue throughout his career, and admitted that he was aware of the problem way back in the summer of 2014, when he moved to West Ham from Metz.
The Senegal international is now back in contention for a first-team spot, having missed the majority of the Hammers’ campaign, making just two appearances all season.
The worrying thing for West Ham fans is that it’s becoming a common theme for many of their star players to spend lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini, Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid and Pedro Obiang have all suffered long-term injuries at various points throughout the course of the season.
And Sakho told WHUFC.com how his back injury wasn’t something that came out of the blue:
West Ham United’s Diafra Sakho with manager Slaven Bilic
“When I arrived in England, I had a back problem which has been troubling me until now. I needed a back operation, but I kept saying no. I did finally have one in December and now it’s much better. I feel I’m ready to play. I’ve already asked to play before, but I think the medical team wanted to protect me, so that I could do a bit more work in the gym and on the training pitch individually. I have now resumed training with the first team and want to play in early April.”
So are the Hammers not exercising due diligence when signing players? Or are the training methods at the club not conducive with keeping their players fit for prolonged periods?
History would suggest that it is a little bit of both.
But if West Ham are to truly move forward as a football club, the way in which they go about their scouting and recruitment process needs to be seriously addressed this summer.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
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