West Ham’s striking options have been slammed by pundit Graeme Souness.
Pundit Graeme Souness has told Sky Sports that he thinks West Ham United are ‘crying out’ for a striker to help solve their goalscoring problems.
West Ham travelled to Merseyside on Sunday afternoon to take on Everton, and after three straight wins in all competitions – against Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Chelsea – Slaven Bilic’s men were in great form.
West Ham United’s Andre Ayew misses a chance to score
However, they came unstuck at Goodison Park. A superb first half display went by without the Hammers scoring, and they were made to pay as Romelu Lukaku headed home Yannick Bolasie’s cross before Lukaku set up Ross Barkley to score a second in a 2-0 win for West Ham.
The result was a setback for manager Bilic, and whilst his defence was caught out by their old nemesis Lukaku, he will surely be most concerned about his attack.
Bilic went with his 3-4-2-1 system again, with Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini roaming as playmakers behind makeshift striker Michail Antonio, who had been moved from wide into the centre of the attack.
West Ham United’s Simone Zaza in action with Everton’s Idrissa Gueye
None of them could find the net, and Bilic even threw on Sofiane Feghouli, Andre Ayew and Simone Zaza in the second half, but to no avail as West Ham again struggled in front of goal.
West Ham went into the summer transfer window looking for a big-name striker, but ultimately failed as Zaza was brought in on loan from Juventus, Ayew – hardly a centre forward – was signed from Swansea, and Jonathan Calleri arrived from Deportivo Maldonado, but has yet to make an impact.
Former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness
After the final whistle on Sunday, pundit Graeme Souness told Sky Sports that he thinks West Ham are ‘crying out’ for a new striker ahead of the January transfer window, before blasting Zaza for ‘running around with no real thought to his game’.
“West Ham are crying out for a striker,” said Souness. “They are playing without a centre forward. Ayew is short of match fitness and that is the hardest place to play – you have to be bang on it to get goals at the highest level. Zaza runs around with no real thought to his game, and they are playing without any real threat at the moment,” he added.
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