Time for Jarvis to step up as West Ham lose Nolan
Published:Fernando Torres would definitely be the Family Fortunes top answer if contestants were asked to name underachieving Premier League footballers this season, but it would be wrong if Matt Jarvis’ name didn’t appear somewhere on the list.
For a player that is currently West Ham’s record signing and apparently could cost them as much as £10m after add-ons, his impact has virtually been non-existent.
In fact, Jarvis has only scored once for the Hammers, which was back in October, and is yet to register a single assist.
Given that he was bought for his ability to continually cross balls into the box and the fact that West Ham have regularly had at least one of Andy Carroll or Carlton Cole spearheading their attack, this return is really disappointing.
With captain and leading midfield goal-getter Kevin Nolan now expected to be out for a month with a broken toe, the Hammers need players to step up and Jarvis owes supporters a run of positive displays more than most.
Looking at the Premier League form table taking in the last six games, no team has collected fewer points than West Ham, while eight points from their last 12 outings has resulted in them spiralling down the table.
They currently sit 14th, their lowest position of the season, and are now only safe from the relegation places by six points.
Therefore, 10/1 remains a big price for West Ham to be relegated this season, while it is 1/12 that they finish the campaign in the bottom half of the Premier League standings.
Jarvis’ first chance to make an improved impact comes at Stoke and the Hammers triumphed in their only Premier League game so far this season without Nolan, a 2-1 victory over Norwich.
West Ham are 5/2 to win at Stoke, with Jarvis 5/1 to be on target at any point in the 90 minutes.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
