West Ham United will be keen to put another turbulent season behind them as they prepare for the new Premier League campaign.
The Hammers spent the majority of 2019-20 battling against relegation and will hope to at least push towards the top half of the table this time around.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look David Moyes's side ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.
How did they fare last season?
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Not very well.
Despite spending over £100m over the two transfer windows, West Ham found themselves embroiled in a relegation battle throughout the season and ended up finishing 16th - just five points clear of the bottom three.
The Hammers actually started the season quite well as they bounced back from a 5-0 opening-day defeat at home to Manchester City, going on a six-game unbeaten run which lifted them as high as fifth at one stage.
However, they climbed no higher than 13th from week 10 onwards and, after a run of nine defeats in 12 games, manager Manuel Pellegrini was sacked and replaced by David Moyes, who returned for his second stint at the club.
Once again the Scot was charged with steering West Ham away from danger and he got off to a perfect start with a 4-0 win over Bournemouth on New Year's Day, but a seven-match winless run during which his side picked up two points from a possible 21 then saw them slip into the relegation zone.
Victory over Chelsea on July 1 kick-started a good end to the season, though, with only one defeat from their last seven games eventually seeing them survive with a bit of breathing room.
Nevertheless, it was West Ham's lowest top-flight finish and points tally since they were relegated in 2010-11, while they also suffered the ignominy of a 4-0 EFL Cup defeat to League One side Oxford United.
Biggest improvement needed
Holding on to leads.
West Ham dropped a whopping 28 points from winning positions last season - the highest tally in the Premier League.
Had they held on to all of those points then they would have finished third in the table and would be playing Champions League football next season, rather than having finished just above the relegation zone.
The fact that they took the lead so often can be used as a source of encouragement, but only if they are able to become more robust when it comes to holding on to them.
Manager: David Moyes
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Only three men have managed more Premier League games than David Moyes, and the former Everton and Manchester United boss is top of the list in terms of active managers with 545 to his name.
Moyes was initially drafted in by West Ham in 2017 and steered the club away from relegation that season before leaving when his short-term contract expired, the Hammers declining to offer him an extension in favour of appointing Pellegrini.
However, once the Chilean was sacked West Ham returned to Moyes, this time on an 18-month deal. Moyes only picked up one more point in his first 19 games than Pellegrini managed in his last 19, but once again kept the Hammers in the top flight.
Key player: Michail Antonio
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Declan Rice is West Ham's most valuable asset and most coveted player, but in terms of importance to the team it is Michail Antonio who stands out most.
The 30-year-old once again proved himself to be the Hammers' most potent goal threat last season, scoring 10 times and creating three more in 24 Premier League appearances.
Eight of those goals came in the final seven games of the campaign too as Antonio ended the season in fine form, including four goals in one game against Norwich City - the first West Ham player to achieve that feat since September 1981.
Summer transfer business
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In
Tomas Soucek (£14.6m, Slavia Prague)
Vladimir Coufal (£5.4m, Slavia Prague)
Craig Dawson (loan, Watford)
Said Benrahma (loan, Brentford)
Out
Jeremy Ngakia (free, Watford)
Pablo Zabaleta (released)
Carlos Sanchez (released)
Stephen Hendrie (free, Crawley Town)
Albian Ajeti (£4.5m, Celtic)
Sead Haksabanovic (undisclosed, Norrkoping)
Jordan Hugill (£3m, Norwich City)
Roberto (free, Real Valladolid)
Daniel Kemp (loan, Blackpool)
Grady Diangana (£12.2m, West Bromwich Albion)
Josh Cullen (undisclosed, Anderlecht)
Jack Wilshere (released)
Xande Silva (loan, Aris Thessaloniki)
Olatunji Akinola (loan, Leyton Orient)
Felipe Anderson (loan, Porto)
West Ham total spent to date: £23.9m
West Ham total received to date: £20.5m
West Ham net transfer balance: -£3.4m
Squad
1. Lukasz Fabianski (GK)
3. Aaron Cresswell (DF)
4. Fabian Balbuena (DF)
7. Andriy Yarmolenko (FW)
8. Felipe Anderson (FW)
10. Manuel Lanzini (MF)
11. Robert Snodgrass (MF)
16. Mark Noble (MF)
17. Jarrod Bowen (FW)
18. Pablo Fornals (MF)
19. Jack Wilshere (MF)
20. Goncalo Cardoso (DF)
21. Angelo Ogbonna (DF)
22. Sebastien Haller (FW)
23. Issa Diop (DF)
24. Ryan Fredericks (DF)
25. David Martin (GK)
26. Arthur Masuaku (DF)
28. Tomas Soucek (MF)
30. Michail Antonio (FW)
32. Xande Silva (FW)
33. Josh Cullen (MF)
34. Nathan Trott (GK)
35. Darren Randolph (GK)
37. Nathan Holland (MF)
39. Alfie Lewis (MF)
41. Declan Rice (MF)
44. Bernardo Rosa (MF)
48. Dan Kemp (MF)
49. Joseph Anang (GK)
53. Ben Johnson (DF)
54. Conor Coventry (MF)
Possible starting XI
Fixture list
West Ham open their campaign at home to Newcastle United on the first Saturday of the new season, but things get a lot tougher for them immediately after.
The Hammers' next six matches all come against teams that finished in the top half of the table last term, a run which ends with back-to-back games against Manchester City and Liverpool.
There is another difficult run in March and April with Manchester United, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers in succession before ending the campaign at home to Southampton.
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SEPTEMBER
12: Newcastle United (h)
19: Arsenal (a)
26: Wolves (h)
OCTOBER
3: Leicester City (a)
17: Tottenham Hotspur (a)
24: Manchester City (h)
31: Liverpool (a)
NOVEMBER
7: Fulham (h)
21: Sheffield United (a)
28: Aston Villa (h)
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DECEMBER
5: Manchester United (h)
12: Leeds United (a)
15: Crystal Palace (h)
19: Chelsea (a)
26: Brighton (h)
28: Southampton (a)
JANUARY
2: Everton (a)
12: West Bromwich Albion (h)
16: Burnley (h)
27: Crystal Palace (a)
30: Liverpool (h)
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FEBRUARY
2: Aston Villa (a)
6: Fulham (a)
13: Sheffield United (h)
20: Tottenham Hotspur (h)
27: Manchester City (a)
MARCH
6: Leeds United (h)
13: Manchester United (a)
20: Arsenal (h)
APRIL
3: Wolves (a)
10: Leicester City (h)
17: Newcastle United (a)
24: Chelsea (h)
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MAY
1: Burnley (a)
8: Everton (h)
11: Brighton (a)
15: West Bromwich Albion (a)
23: Southampton (h)
Prediction: 16th
The short break has not exactly increased the optimism amongst West Ham fans for the new season, with Tomas Soucek, who was on loan at the London Stadium for the second half of last term, the only player signed so far.
The sale of talented youngster Grady Diangana prompted club captain Mark Noble to hit out at the owners, and rumours of tension behind the scenes between Moyes, the board and the players makes for a chaotic buildup to the new campaign.
Add to that a very difficult start and it might not be long until Moyes starts to come under pressure and the fans turn against the board once again. West Ham should have enough to avoid relegation again given the quality they have in their ranks, but anything more ambitious than that may be difficult against an unsettled backdrop.
Barney Corkhill
