West Ham United have slowly begun turning fortunes around this season, and it seems that Slaven Bilic has began winning back the trust of the Hammers faithful here in the Tavern!
After a seriously disappointing start to the campaign, things have been picking up post-Christmas and the squad seems to have settled into mid-table security.
A couple more wins will more-or-less confirm their safety this season but in what are ambitious times for the Hammers, the owners will want more than 10th-placed finishes season-after-season.
Whilst Hammers fans here in the Tavern are relieved to have staved off relegation fears, they want to be pushing for Europe and the pressure will be on Bilic to do just that next campaign.
But another worry here in the Tavern is recruitment, and just who Bilic brings in this summer to improve his ranks.
And with another international break just around the corner, here’s 3 players West Ham must be keeping tabs on during the international break….
Artem Dzyuba
One of the more obscure of names we could think of, Artem Dzyuba is a Russian international striker who has been one of the biggest players in the squad over the past couple of years.
Domestically, he plays for Zenit in the Russian League, and has scored ten goals this campaign, having missed out on over a months worth of action because of injury.
He’s a real unit upfront though and with Andy Carroll’s fitness seemingly always a concern for Hammers fans here in the Tavern, this could make for a like-for-like replacement.
Serge Aurier
Facing off against Russia during next-week’s international fixtures is the Ivory Coast, who have a whole host of star names flowing throughout their side.
And after some discussion with some of the Hammers locals here in the pub, we think the man we’d like to see join West Ham most is PSG right-back Serge Aurier.
He’s been linked with a move to England repeatedly in the past but has never made the move but his pace, power and forward-thinking would certainly help West Ham going forward.
Tomas Kalas
Chelsea centre-back Tomas Kalas is currently on-loan at Championship outfit Fulham, where he’s impressed in the Cottagers push for the play-offs over the past couple of months.
Whilst he might not be at the level needed to make a push in the Chelsea first-team just yet, there’s plenty of supporters that think the Czech international is certainly good enough to play in the Premier League.
At 23-years-old, he’s got years ahead of him and to challenge the likes of Winson Reid and Angelo Ogbonna, he’d be a very good option indeed.
