Trevor Sinclair claims striker shortage will cost West Ham Champions League spot
Trevor Sinclair claims the failure of the West Ham board to buy another striker will put paid to their hopes of securing a top-four spot this season.
The Irons have been riding the crest of a wave in 2021, winning ten Premier League games and losing just three until Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Newcastle United made it four.
Such form has propelled them to their current standing of fourth which would bring with it the glitz and glamour of Champions League football in the 2021/21 campaign, but their bid hit the buffers at St. James Park after a loss was coupled with an injury to on-loan Jesse Lingard.
Michail Antonio is the only senior striking option on the books but he has missed the last two games after hobbling off against Wolves on April 5, and ex-Hammer Sinclair told talkSPORT’s GameDay podcast [19/04/21] that the loss of him and Lingard could prove terminal to their European aspirations.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think West Ham are going to be able to stay the [Champions League] course and I think that will be put to bed next week when Chelsea do a job on West Ham, that’s what I’m predicting,” he said.
“Obviously my heart wants a West Ham win but I just feel with Jesse Lingard potentially out and Antonio out, I think my original fears about not getting that back-up for Antonio and getting a back-up striker is going to come back to hurt West Ham, even though it’s still going to be a very successful season for David Moyes.”
Board blew it but dream is still alive
We all know GSB are not fit for purpose and their lack of ambition has hurt our chances of progression over the years.
January’s business was just the latest in a long line of failings form David Gold, David Sullivan and Karen Brady.
Of course we’re thankful that Lingard was brought in from Manchester United on a temporary deal but the decision to sell Sebastien Haller to Ajax and not bring in another centre-forward was unforgivable.
The worst part is just how inevitable it would be that it would blow back up in our faces with Antonio’s chequered injury history.
A glance at our substitutes bench versus Leicester City on April 11 told the story – we only had two attackers and one of them was an 18-year-old (Ademipo Odubeko).
Jarrod Bowen has deputised admirably for Antonio, scoring in his two previous outings before Saturday, but he is not a natural striker and struggles to hold the ball up in the same way that Antonio or Haller can.
If Lingard is out for any length of time that will further dent our chances of Champions League qualification.
We think Sinclair’s being a bit too defeatist with his comments given Saturday was only our third loss in nine games, but our task just became a lot touger.
In other West Ham news, Irons official hits back at newspaper and shares major injury update after Newcastle loss.