West Ham midseason report card: Rita Guarino steps into relegation fight with the Hammers | OneFootball

Rita Guarino is stepping into a relegation fight at West Ham

At the halfway stage of the Women’s Super League, SheKicks is compiling report cards for each of the 12 WSL teams, and here we conclude with West Ham.

How have West Ham started the WSL season?

West Ham have endured a miserable start to the season and appear to be in a relegation scrap with Liverpool.

The Hammers lost their opening seven games, conceding 18 goals and scoring just two.

West Ham improved just before the winter break, losing just one of their last four games. However, that improvement came against the other three sides in the bottom four of the WSl.

Their 3-1 win over Everton was impressive, but draws with Leicester and Liverpool were disappointing. The draw with Liverpool was particularly frustrating, as the Reds were reduced to 10 players after just 19 minutes.

Given their disappointing form, it was no surprise to see the club sack Rehanne Skinner, with Rita Guarino replacing her.

Should West Ham finish bottom of the WSL, they might not necessarily go down.

With the WSL expanding to 14 teams next year, West Ham would face a playoff against the side that finishes third in WSL 2 if they finish bottom of the league.

West Ham have lost eight out of 11 games in the WSL this season

West Ham’s WSL results

How have West Ham’s signings performed?

West Ham’s summer signings have made little impact in the WSL so far this campaign.

Yu Endo has been the pick of the signings in defence, starting seven of her nine WSL appearances.

Ffion Morgan has also been a solid addition to the squad, with seven starts in 10 games.

The rest of the signings have been used as bench options for the Hammers.

Sarah Brasero and Leila Wandeler are yet to start in the WSL, while Anna Csiki, on loan from Tottenham, has only started once in the WSL.

Who is West Ham’s new manager?

West Ham will be hoping for a much better second half of the season under Rita Guarino.

Guarino is a former Italian international who has had managerial spells with European giants Juventus and Inter Milan.

During her four years in charge of Juventus, she won four Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana trophies.

She left Juventus at the end of the 2020-21 season and controversially moved to rivals Inter Milan.

During her time with Inter, she failed to win any trophies and achieved a best Serie A finish of third in 2022-23. Guarino left Inter Milan at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

West Ham WSL midseason report grade: E

West Ham can’t get higher than an E after their difficult start to the season.

While they are ahead of Liverpool thanks to their win over Everton, dropped points against the Reds and Leicester could prove costly come the end of the season.

Just one defeat in their last four could be a positive sign, but West Ham will have to quickly adapt under their new head coach.

WSL midseason report grades so far