West Ham’s first season under Pellegrini brought mixed emotions with the Hammers finishing 10 points better off compared to the previous campaign, but never really finding consistency to even challenge for Europe as was their goal.
Pellegrini was very active in the transfer market in July and August, which expectedly led to a slow start as the many new players needed time to adjust. Also West Ham had bad luck with injuries all season, they had 8 players that missed 20+ games.
Eventually December brought the much-needed change in fortunes with West Ham achieving 5 wins in 6 rounds during this month to at least avoid any speculation about their safety for the rest of the campaign.
Undoubtedly Anderson’s signing proved a great success as on a good day he was able to cause problems even to the top teams. Rice and Noble also played very well in the heart of the midfield, but the issues in defence remained unresolved all season.
One thing that improved a lot under Pellegrini was the home form and with wins over Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United + draws vs. Chelsea and Liverpool, the Hammers showed that if most of their injured players are available they could really start challenging the top sides.
Pellegrini is expected to strengthen the squad even more this summer, finding a solid centre-back and a new inner midfielder seem to be his main priorities, with the second season under him expected to be even more successful. West Ham are desperate to qualify for Europe in 2019/20.
