3 things Slaven Bilic must improve at West Ham United in January

It has not been the start to the season, or indeed the new era at the London Stadium, that West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic would have hoped for.

The Hammers have won just one of their opening seven Premier League matches – a 1-0 success against AFC Bournemouth back in August – and have lost five of the other six.

It could have been a bit worse for Bilic as well if Dimitri Payet had not produced a moment of brilliance to salvage a point against Middlesbrough prior to the international break.

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

West Ham, who finished seventh under Bilic last season, currently sit in 18th, and know that they must improve quickly if they are to pull away from the relegation zone.

Consequently, manager Bilic may already be looking towards the January transfer window by identifying areas of his current squad that need improving.

Here are THREE things SHOOT think he must improve in January…

Defensive options

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

West Ham currently have the worst defensive record in the division, having conceded 17 goals in their first seven matches.

Conceding four goals at West Bromwich Albion and four goals at home to Watford is quite simply not good enough, and Bilic will know that defensive reinforcements are a must in the January window.

Unsurprisingly, the Hammers have already been linked with defenders ahead of the window reopening in the New Year, with Sunderland’s Lamine Kone and Cardiff City’s Sean Morrison reportedly interesting Bilic.

It’s definitely an area West Ham need to strengthen in January if they are to pull away from the bottom three.

Forward options

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Defensively, West Ham are very poor, but they are not that much better going forward either.

Their tally of eight goals is actually better than any other side in the bottom eight, five of which have come from Michail Antonio, yet none of the strikers at the club have found the net so far.

Zaza has not join his feet in England football yet and, although Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew are out injured, the Hammers have looked pretty toothless in the final third anyway.

They’ve been linked with an audacious move for Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge in January, should the England international fail to get regular football, so Bilic clearly realises that his attacking options need reinforcing in the New Year.

Central midfield department

Photo: Mark Leech / Offside.

Mark Noble has looked a yard short at times this season, and Cheikhou Kouyate doesn’t look much better either.

As much as the West Ham defence should be blamed for the amount of goals they’re conceding, those protecting them deserve some criticism too.

This is an area Bilic should look at in January, as a lot of teams have found it too easy to get through the West Ham midfield this season.

Reinforcements in this department would hugely benefit the Hammers as they look to move up the table.