West Ham United have a weekend of preparation ahead as David Moyes' side host Brentford on Monday night in the Premier League, with anything other than victory an acute threat to the Scotsman's tenure.
It has not, it must be said, been an auspicious-feeling start to 2024, with a promising campaign – the lads emboldened off the back of triumph in the Europa Conference League last June – slipping into a more worrying arena of performance, last weekend's 2-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest the eighth fixture on the trot without victory.
That elusive winning feeling has allowed West Ham's divisional rivals for European qualification to close ground and climb up the table, with second-tier Bristol City also beating United in the FA Cup third round.
One big factor behind West Ham's recent issues – the crux, perhaps – has been the lack of goal threat up front, with Michail Antonio injured for large portions of the campaign and Danny Ings yet to find the back of the net.
Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus are high-class attacking outlets but neither are natural centre-forwards, and Moyes will certainly be rueing the misfire on Gianluca Scamacca, who should be leading the line at London Stadium to this day.
The fee West Ham paid for Gianluca Scamacca
West Ham signed Scamacca from Serie A side Sassuolo for no small sum of £35.5m back in July 2022, having enjoyed season-on-season growth under Moyes' tutelage.
Scamacca, who was 23 at the time, was viewed as the long-term solution to a centre-forward spot that had seen varied levels of success across an interminable period, having posted 16 goals from 36 appearances in the Italian top-flight the season prior, just 25 of those from the outset.
Injury ruled the Italy international out for most of the latter half of the 2022/23 season but while he bagged eight goals from 27 matches in all competitions, starting just 16 times, Scamacca only struck three goals in the Premier League.
He was branded "miserable" by pundit Chris Sutton and, clearly homesick and unable to settle, it was hardly a surprise when Atalanta completed a £27m deal for his signature back in August, ending a wholly forgettable stint in England.
Reporter Carlo Garganese even remarked that the 25-year-old was "destroyed by Moyes", such was his incongruity within the oft-tagged 'pragmatic' style of play.
Admittedly, Moyes is a winner and was keen to make that known himself when recently questioned about his future, but Scamacca was not the answer in the end despite arriving with a weight of expectation and the insidious fallout of this has left the Hammers struggling at present.
It's a long list of misfires, Ings joined from Aston Villa for £15m in January 2023, but that hasn't worked either.
When will the club get it right? They have shown their astuteness in the market during this chapter but signing a reliable striker during the summer window is imperative for future fluency.
Scamacca might have been a poor addition in hindsight but he's certainly not the worst, with Sebastian Haller, now adored by the general football fan after his battles and silver-laden resurgence, unable to make his mark in east London despite arriving with a lofty transfer fee and a wave of excitement.
West Ham's signing of Sebastian Haller
Haller came before. Signed for a club-record £45m in July 2019, six months before Moyes' return to the club, the Ivorian star had scored 20 goals and supplied 12 assists during the 2018/19 season with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marko Arnautovic and Chicharito had both left London Stadium that summer and a striker was a necessity.
It was a real statement of intent under Manuel Pellegrini after a tenth-place Premier League finish in 2018/19 denoted the squad's potential, but it didn't work out and Haller was at the epicentre of a landslide that resulted in the Chilean's sacking and Moyes' return.
Sebastian Haller's West Ham career
In total, Haller clinched 14 goals and three assists across 54 matches for West Ham but failed to live up to the impact made in the seasons before his transfer to England.
Described as a "handful" by former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith, Haller did have his qualities and was an aerial monster, but he only completed 66% of his passes and won 40% of his ground duels across his first campaign in the Premier League, as per Sofascore, and was unable to mesh it all together.
Admittedly, he might have cut an isolated figure in the box and that's not entirely his fault, with a lack of reliable service inhibiting his attacking fluidity.
But, alas, it didn't work out, and when Moyes took to the dugout once again he started to slump, scoring just three goals from 16 Premier League appearances during the first phase of the 2020/21 season, moving to Ajax that January for around £20m.
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His time at West Ham can only go down as a failure; a sizeable salary of £68k-per-week cost the club over £5m. Partner that with his £45m arrival fee, and he bled the Irons over £50m – or, in other words, around £3.5m per goal.
Haller's post-West Ham journey
Haller's sale was believed to be down to his discordance in Moyes' system while showing a lack of eagerness to adjust to the style.
Moving to Ajax, though, Haller restored his career in some style, plundering 47 goals and 16 assists across 66 matches – including 11 goals from just eight fixtures in the Champions League.
His exploits in the Netherlands led to a transfer to Borussia Dortmund, tasked with replacing Erling Haaland, but sadly, just weeks into his move, Haller had expressed discomfort and thought himself to be unwell, but within 24 hours a testicular cancer diagnosis had come back positive.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Finishing
Defensive contribution
Passing
Ball retention
Source: WhoScored
The road to recovery began and the 29-year-old would miss much of the campaign but did return to score nine times in the Bundesliga before the close of the campaign.
At present, Haller is basking in the glory of scoring the winning goal as Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations final, making an illustrious comeback for the ages.
What a remarkable story. Ultimately, Haller's journey in east London didn't work out but no Irons supporter would begrudge him for his recent success, the AFCON-winning goal sure to have pulled the corner of a few mouths.