Previewing West Ham United's 17/18 Premier League season

West Ham United will begin their Premier League season next Sunday, with Manchester United being our first opponents. But what are our realistic aims for the season? And what should we be worried about?

Aims

We cannot have a repeat of last season’s disappointing, underwhelming season. But we also have to be realistic about what we can achieve this season. Most teams in the Premier League have spent a lot this summer. The Premier League is more competitive than ever and we cannot expect to have a repeat of the 15/16 season where we overcame all odds.

READ MORE: West Ham Fan View: What were the best and worst moments of the 2016/17 season?

Last season, we finished only one point off 8th place. This season, I do hope that we finish in the top half of the Premier League and unlike last season, I am hoping that we do put in some big game performances. It is the cup competitions where we should give more focus given that this is our best chance at winning a trophy. We got knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup and the fifth round of the EFL Cup last season. This year, we have to progress in these competitions and reaching Wembley would be a dream for all Hammers.

Our strengths

It is clear that there has been a change in transfer strategy at the club and this may be one of our strengths going into the season. We saw how our signings last summer struggled to perform and we may not have that problem this season. Javier Hernandez, Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, and Marko Arnautovic all have vast experience and this will be key going into the season. Let’s not forget that we did sign players in positions that needed to be targeted going into the summer.

READ MORE: West Ham Fan View: Where the Hammers must strengthen in the summer

Manuel Lanzini also showed near the end of last season that he was ready to step up and be the main creative force in the team. Dimitri Payet’s departure meant that we lost his ability to create numerous chances though Lanzini is starting to perform consistently. With Hernandez in front of him, we could see a great partnership forming.

Our weaknesses

Our defence is undoubtedly our biggest weakness. Last season, we conceded 64 goals in the Premier League with only 5 teams conceding more. Two of those five got relegated. There was no organisation in defence and we saw Slaven Bilic attempt to play many formations though we still leaked goals. Jose Fonte was signed in January to help strengthen our defence but this changed little.

We cannot continue to concede this many goals if we want to finish in the top half. Bilic has to settle on a formation to keep consistency in the team and play players in their natural positions. The signings of both Hart and Zabaleta should help strengthen our defence and prevent those humiliating losses from last season repeating this season.