3 things Bilic’s West Ham must improve ahead of the run in

Playing without Carroll

West Ham drew 2-2 against West Brom in their last match, and it was the first one in a while that saw Andy Carroll not in the matchday squad due to injury.

And, although the Hammers performed reasonably well for long periods, you still sense that most of their play was revolved around playing to Carroll’s strengths, despite him not being on the pitch.

Obviously, when you’ve got a striker like that in your ranks, you’d be silly not to play to his strengths, and his return of six goals in 11 league games since returning is indicative of that, but when’s he not on the pitch, there needs to be a plan B.

There were several occasions when the likes of Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio were getting high balls into the box, but with no Carroll in there, it was relatively comfortable for West Brom.

Clearly, Carroll’s injury history means it’s unlikely that he’ll be fit for the rest of the campaign, so West Ham must have other ideas in mind to get the goals and the wins when he’s not on the pitch.