West Ham United loan signing admits he is finding life tough in the Premier League.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
Infighting among fans, resentment towards owners and concerns over safety at the club’s new 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium home have soured the Hammers’ campaign so far.
Slaven Bilic‘s side have lost five of their opening seven Premier League matches, picking up just four points from 21 so far.
The Hammers were also embarrassingly dumped out of the Europa League by Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu for the second season running.
The club’s struggles are in sharp contrast to last season when they bid farewell to their beloved Boleyn with their best ever Premier League points total and a first positive goal difference since 1986.
West Ham United’s Jonathan Calleri shoots wide
A grand total of 13 players were added to Bilic’s ranks over the summer including the much heralded loan capture of Argentine Jonathan Calleri.
In fact so highly rated was Calleri that there was no option for West Ham to be able to buy the player, despite the Hammers wanting one, because the player’s representatives felt he would have better offers from bigger clubs after showing what he could do this season.
So far, though, Calleri has been found wanting and has missed a string of sitters which have cost Bilic’s side dear.
Bench duty: Calleri with Bilic
His form, or lack of it, has seen him drop out of contention in recent weeks and the player himself has lifted the lid on why he is struggling to adapt, in an interview with the club’s official website.
“The style of play here is very different and it can take a few months to settle in,” Calleri told whufc.com.
“I remember it took a while for Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to settle in and then they did really well. I am hoping that I can leave my mark at the club.
“I am finding it a bit difficult in terms of the language and the style of play at the moment.”
Calleri went on to say he is confident of turning things around once he has fully settled in.
But if he is not making the side over the equally struggling Simeone Zaza and in the absence of Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew does not bode well.
Calleri during training
Some fans would argue at least the player has been getting himself into the positions to score.
But it is his profligacy when he has the ball in those positions which is one of the many reasons West Ham currently find themselves in the relegation zone staring a long, hard season in the face.
Hammers cult hero Carlos Tevez
Comparisons with cult hero Tevez will not do him many favours either. Tevez was cut from a different cloth and endeared himself to fans with his workrate and passion long before the goals finally began to flow.
The worry is that if another Great Escape is needed, Calleri is not the man West Ham can rely on to pull it off like his compatriot a decade ago.
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