Green Street Hammers
Fansided

How West Ham Could Have Won Against City

By Barrett Rouen

STRATFORD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 01: Mark Noble of West Ham and his team mates talk to referee Kevin Friend during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on February 1, 2017 in Stratford, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
STRATFORD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 01: Mark Noble of West Ham and his team mates talk to referee Kevin Friend during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on February 1, 2017 in Stratford, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

West Ham should have been trying to beat Manchester City last night.

In terms of confidence City were in a weak position and struggling. Perhaps at the beginning of the season when things were reversed and it was the Hammers who were in the weak position I would have suggested playing for the draw. That though is not the case anymore and West Ham had played some of their best football of the year in the past few games. That coupled with the renewed squad unity could have seen West Ham fight off City for perhaps a 1-0 or 2-1 win.

West Ham needed to play physically. Shown City that they’re not going to stand around clapping them for their managers romantic notions about football. There is nothing beautiful about losing with style. Even the suggestion of that makes this writer sick. But they didn’t even give it a chance.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

Defensive Energy

If the Hammers could have pinned Manchester City in their own half then the game would have ben a positive one for the Hammers. But their passive mentality to the City attack didn’t help anything.

The City striker was allowed on to the ball too easily David Silva and De Bruyne were allowed all the space to be as active as ever. The solution to this should have been to man mark them in the middle of the park. If Mark Noble can play that role then Manchester City’s attack will break down. Maybe if Kouate had been back longer from AFCON then the side would have had more control. But by sacrificing control of the middle of the park City played on the floor through the middle. If the Irons could have forced City to try and go over the top or around it might have been different. Neither of these have City looked very diligent at so far this season.

It is a similar strategy to the one that Liverpool used against AC Milan in the Champions League victory of 2005. Benitez subbed in Dietmar Hamman to man mark Pirlo. The game then turned on it’s head and is still remembered to this day as one of the best Champions League finals ever.

Next: How to move on from Payet

However this is not a great help in hindsight. Manchester City dominated in areas they are better than us, and the gulf in talent showed. West Ham did not have the pace to break back or trouble City, and they did not get physical enough. Too many stupid challenges and poor passes gave City all the momentum they needed.

Home/West Ham News