Stellar season could be just the start for West Ham

Slaven Bilic has made a bright start to his time as West Ham boss

West Ham host Manchester United on Tuesday night in the Premier League with the Hammers currently seventh in the Premier League table.

A win could move the Irons to within three points of fourth-place Manchester City in the table with just one league game remaining.

However, a win could take Manchester United above City into fourth and due to inferior goal difference the Hammers will not be able to now qualify for the Champions League this season.

A place in the top six is still well within reach for Slaven Bilic’s team and that would be a superb achievement for the Croatian in his debut campaign with the Londoners.

Tuesday night’s game will be a historic one as it will be the last time the Irons play at the Boleyn Ground before their summer move to the Olympic Stadium.

Exciting times at the Hammers

It is exciting times to be a West Ham fan, not only with the move to a new stadium, but the team are playing some exceptional football under Bilic. The team’s style of play between this season under Bilic and last season under Sam Allardyce is chalk and cheese.

As a centre-back in his playing days you would expect the Croatian to be pretty cautious in his team’s playing style. However he has produced a team at West Ham that is very easy on the eye and that seems to have a promising future, unlike the team under Allardyce which produced some dreadful football at times.

The summer signings of Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet in particular have proven to be very shrewd signings. In fact Payet has proven to be one of the stars of the Premier League. He had been highly consistent in Ligue One and has transferred that form to the English top-flight.

The French international’s performances this season have been outstanding and he has outperformed some of his contemporaries in the English top-flight. Payet has scored nine times this season and produced 11 assists, which is impressive considering he had a spell on the sidelines through injury earlier this season.

Lanzini has been more of a surprise. Very few English football fans could claim to have known who the Argentinian was prior to his move to West Ham from UAE side Al Jazira, because to be honest I didn’t.

However, Lanzini has been a vital attacking cog in the West Ham team this season, scoring six times and producing two assists. Crucially he has also built up a good understanding with the outstanding Payet.

Highly-ambitious owners

West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold seem to be highly-ambitious for the club and a potential top-six finish this season, which the Hammers are odds of 11/4 to achieve, could be just the start for the happy Hammers.

Co-owner Sullivan has recently revealed that the Irons are in the market for a high-profile striker and have already made a big money move for one striker and are set to bid for another forward in the near future.

The Hammers have been linked with moves for Marseille star Michy Batshuayi, Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette and Liverpool’s Christian Benteke.  It seems the Irons are determined to sign a big name striker this summer.

No doubt the Irons will strengthen their squad in other positions this summer, as the club from the east end look to move forward in the future.

A bright future for the Hammers

Slaven Bilic’s appointment as West Ham boss was a slight gamble, as he had never managed in the Premier League, but it has been a gamble that has paid-off for the Hammers.

The Hammers fans are obviously confident of a bright future, as the club have already sold over 52,000 season tickets for next season in the Olympic Stadium.

A highly-rated young boss, a developing team and promises of new quality summer additions must be exciting for the clubs fans. Next season will be highly-competitive in the English top-flight, but the Hammers have the potential to once again challenge at the right end of the Premier League table.

What will West Ham’s expectations be next season?