Thursday night did not follow the script that manager Slaven Bilic had in mind for West Ham. After a strong Premier League season in 2015-16, the Hammers were saying goodbye to their longtime home at the Boleyn Ground and embarking on a new era at London’s Olympic Stadium. The club were set to push higher up the league table, play in front of a larger capacity crowd and bring European group stage football to their state of the art new home. Instead, West Ham suffered a Europa League exit that few inside the club saw coming.
For the second consecutive season, Romanian side FC Astra Giurgiu have dumped the Hammers out of Europe before the group stage. With a 1-0 victory on Thursday night in London, the visitors booked their place in the next round by an aggregate score of 2-1. It is an incredibly disappointing result and one that raises serious questions about where this Slaven Bilic West Ham side goes from here.
The club hierarchy will feel deflated. A brand new stadium that ownership expected to host European competition has instead witnessed an embarrassing early exit at the hands of a side currently sitting 11th in the Romanian Liga 1. With starters Mark Noble and Dimitri Payet both absent from the second leg, the Hammers attack was unable to convert a myriad of chances throughout the contest. FC Astra, in contrast, found their winning goal while registering just two shots on target across the entire match.
Increased Focus on League Play
Nobody at the club wanted to be discussing a West Ham Europa League exit at this stage of the season, but there is a silver lining worth acknowledging. Slaven Bilic was undoubtedly preparing rotation strategies and managing player workloads across two competitions. That particular headache is now gone.
The Hammers can direct their full energy toward Premier League fixtures without the physical and logistical demands of Thursday night European football. No additional travel, no squad rotation dilemmas, no fixture congestion in the early weeks of the season. For a squad adjusting to a new stadium and a new rhythm of play, that singular focus could prove genuinely beneficial as the season develops.
Improvements in Goal Scoring Are Urgently Needed
The European exit has laid bare a problem that Slaven Bilic West Ham supporters have been quietly discussing since last season. The Hammers are too reliant on too few players for their goals. The disappointing showing across both legs against FC Astra illustrated precisely why depending solely on Dimitri Payet, Enner Valencia and Andy Carroll to provide attacking threat is not a sustainable strategy at this level.
The arrival of Italian international striker Simone Zaza on loan from Juventus is a welcome addition and should provide an immediate boost to the club’s attacking options. However, one signing alone will not solve a structural problem. The entire squad needs to contribute more consistently in front of goal if the east London side are to achieve their ambitions in the Premier League this season. Thursday night was a painful reminder of what happens when the attack misfires against organised, well-drilled opposition.
Renewed Urgency for the Top Four and Domestic Cups
The Olympic Stadium move was always about more than just changing postcodes. It represented a statement of intent that the east London side are ready to compete with the Premier League elite on a sustained basis. A seventh-place finish last season brought the club agonisingly close to Champions League qualification and demonstrated what this group of players is capable of achieving.
That ambition has not changed. If anything the pain of seeing West Ham endure a Europa League exit at the hands of Romanian opposition has intensified the hunger within the squad. European football must return to east London in 2017-18, whether earned through a strong league campaign or a deep run in one of the domestic cup competitions. The FA Cup and League Cup now take on added significance as potential routes back to the continent.
Slaven Bilic has the squad, the stadium and the support to deliver on those expectations. Thursday night was a setback, a frustrating and entirely avoidable one. But with the full weight of the club’s resources now directed toward the Premier League, the Hammers have every opportunity to respond in the manner their supporters deserve. of the domestic cup competitions. The FA Cup and League Cup now take on added significance as potential routes back to the continent.
