Slaven Bilic Denies Playing Star Striker Out of Position But Brands Carroll Partnership 'Impossible'

West Ham's slow start to the Premier League campaign continued on the weekend as they could only manage a point away at West Brom. 

Among West Ham's summer acquisitions was 29-year-old Mexican international Javier Hernandez. And although it seemed to be a coup for the Hammers, life at the London stadium for Hernandez has started very slowly, with only 2 goals in 410 minutes. 

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Many fans believe this is down to Slaven Bilic's tactics, with some claiming that playing three strikers takes the emphasis away from the former Manchester United forward, who still holds the 5th best minutes-to-goals ratio of all time in the Premier League.

Responding to this, Bilic said - as reported by The Times: “We are getting that confidence back as a team. We were attacking. But to get three points you need quality up front, which we didn’t have. The strikers were fighting and were part of the team but we could do more.

“We played with three strikers. There were a lot of positives by pressing them, keeping the ball, but if we are talking about shots on target there wasn’t much of that.

“Hernandez was not wide-wide, we are playing with three or five at the back so he is more off the striker. Of course in defensive work they were coming deep, which is why I am praising them."

Furthermore, when asked about pairing Hernandez and Andy Carroll up front, he claimed it was "impossible", adding: "It is hard to do that and then have three at the back, then with Antonio and Arnautovic, it is almost impossible.”

West Ham currently sit just one place above the relegation zone, with Bilic under immense pressure to deliver results after an 11th placed finish last season.