There has not been much to be positive about at West Ham this season and new problems have been emerging every week.
There are plenty of problems at West Ham right now.
Julen Lopetegui’s biggest one is staying in the job beyond next weekend.
The team has not functioned as a unit all year.
Somehow, though, it’s got even worse this season despite a £155m summer spend on nine new players.
Opinions differ over what the key issues are at the London Stadium.
West Ham’s midfield is terrible. A random mix of players who lack pace, mobility, athleticism, power or any skills that complement one another.
No thought has gone into how that area of the Hammers team is put together.
Up front is another big issue. Three strikers into their 30s with a combined age of nearly 98.
Two of them are not deemed up to Premier League standards and are out of contract at the end of the season.
The other, Niclas Fullkrug, is proving a terrible choice as the summer’s big forward signing.
Nobody saw goalkeeper issue coming at West Ham
He has made just three sub appearances and is closing on three months out through injury.
There are reports Fullkrug, Guido Rodriguez and Edson Alvarez all want to leave.
West Ham are wide open at the back, giving up chances to the opposition at an alarming rate.
But a growing problem which nobody saw coming was in goal.
The Hammers went into the season with Alphonse Areola as number one and experienced veteran Lukasz Fabianski number two.
Seasoned pro Wes Foderingham arrived on a free transfer to be third choice and tick off a homegrown player box.
Three experienced goalkeepers with plenty of talent there.
Star says he’s in dreamland being at West Ham
But things are even unravelling there too. Areola has proved to be increasingly injury prone and was dropped as a result of his poor form recently.
Fabianski turns 40 this season. And while he remains an excellent goalkeeper, his lack of ability on the ball makes it difficult to build out from the back.
The situation has seen many West Ham fans calling for the club to sign a new goalkeeper in the coming windows.
It has been suggested Liverpool’s wantaway Caoimhin Kelleher would be an ideal signing for the Hammers.
But maybe the answer is right under West Ham’s noses?
Because a star already in the building says he’s in dreamland being at West Ham and he could save the club millions.
Finlay Herrick is just 18 but he is already being tipped to be a future England star.
Already 6ft 1in, Herrick recently signed a new contract with West Ham – essentially keeping him here until 2029.
That’s some commitment from the Hammers for a young Academy player.
West Ham are serious about Herrick. He is seen as the club’s future number one.
Herrick has been training with the first team regularly. Some compliment considering Lopetegui himself used to be a goalkeeper.
It is becoming increasingly common to have younger goalkeepers in the modern game.
So Herrick may not have to wait too long to get that chance.
Herrick could save Hammers millions
And it will be all the more sweet for him and West Ham’s fans if and when he does.
Because while all we seem to have heard for a while now is players – both academy and first team – wanting out of West Ham, Herrick absolutely loves it here and wants to realise his dream of being the club’s number one.
“It doesn’t feel real (being in and around the first team),” Herrick told the club’s website.
“I’ve started training with the first team every now and then this season, and it’s still something I’m getting used to. It’s what you dream about when you’re young.
“Being with the first team in the changing room, doing pre-match routines with them — foam rolls, strapping — it’s mad.
“Walking out onto the pitch for the warm-up, the stadium still filling up but already loud, it’s unreal. Before the Everton game, I was saving shots from [Jarrod] Bowen and [Crysencio] Summerville in the warm-up, thinking, ‘this is incredible’. Moments like that make me pinch myself to check I’m not dreaming.”
The Hammers have been shamed this week after a report emerged showing Lopetegui has given zero minutes to club-trained players this season. One of only four managers to have done so.
But Mark Noble is making sure the manager knows he has a top talent on his hands.
“I’ve seen Finlay come through as a young boy, and I know he’s one of the best goalkeepers in his age group,” said Noble when Herrick signed his new deal recently.
“He’s got fantastic attributes, is big, commanding, comfortable with the ball at his feet and has rare qualities where he actually enjoys the tough side of things when it comes to goalkeeping.
“I know Xavi [Valero] our goalkeeping coach thinks really highly of Finlay, and it was one of our big objectives to get him signed up on a longer-term contract. We really, really like him here, and that’s why we’ve given him a new contract.
“He’s still got to work hard every day and learn from the other goalkeepers to become an even better goalkeeper himself. I really do believe he can have a successful career in the game, as he is such a talented boy.”
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