Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Why Pedro Obiang must play in West Ham’s Europa League Tie

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Pedro Mba Obiang of West Ham United and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United battle for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on May 10, 2016 in London, England. West Ham United are playing their last ever home match at the Boleyn Ground after their 112 year stay at the stadium. The Hammers will move to the Olympic Stadium for the 2016-17 season. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Pedro Mba Obiang of West Ham United and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United battle for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on May 10, 2016 in London, England. West Ham United are playing their last ever home match at the Boleyn Ground after their 112 year stay at the stadium. The Hammers will move to the Olympic Stadium for the 2016-17 season. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With West Ham battling to save face on Thursday against the third best team in Slovenia I believe the key to us winning the match relies not on Antonio at right back, but playinbg Obiang as a true defensive midfielder.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

Some of you wouldn’t even be picking him in your West Ham eleven to start the match, but I think he’s more important than many people realise. He may not be the man breaking forward to score or sprinting back to make crazy last ditch tackles very often, but his positioning and passing were key to the best performances last season.

I love both Noble and Kouyate, as far as central midfielders go they offer West Ham a lot between them and can trouble defences in different ways. The only issue they have is that occasionally they can let their attacking instincts override their sensibilities in defence, and we can get caught out.

Playing with Obiang allows them both to do what they want without the pressure of always having to defend at any point. Obiang acts as a natural shield and his ability to pick the ball up and spray it out wide and turn defence into attack is better than any of our other midfielders.

If you think about the times we got a big result last season, Arsenal and City away (and even mid-table teams like Liverpool away) we played with a holding midfielder who’s job was to act as a defender when the other team pushed at us, even if it was Oxford when we took on Arsenal.

Live Feed

Manchester United: Erik ten Hag's constant "crybaby" excuses don't add up
Manchester United: Erik ten Hag's constant "crybaby" excuses don't add up /

The Top Flight

  • Barcelona remain interested in this exiled Manchester United "flop"The Top Flight
  • "Hurts me" Arsenal legend makes shock Spurs admission after comebackThe Top Flight
  • "Dreadful" Liverpool defender was shunned for being "miles off" vs WolvesThe Top Flight
  • Arsenal lineup vs Everton: Mikel Arteta hands out a shock DEBUTThe Top Flight
  • Arsenal: Mikel Arteta will soon land in-house deal for "massive player"The Top Flight

    • He can also then allow Antonio to push forward at right back and turn what can be seen as a fairly defensive three in the middle to an attacking formation with the right back getting forward often. As long as the left back is more sensible Obiang can move across and protect this space, allowing us to get the best out of Antonio in that position.

    The only issue with this is that you have to do one of two things. Play a 4-3-3 with Obiang Kouyate and Noble in the middle (and therefore sacrifice an attacking midfielder) or drop one of Kouyate or Noble. West Ham haven’t done either one of those too often in recent times.

    Out of the two Bilic is more likely to pay 4-3-3, but at home especially he prefers the 4-2-3-1 to be able to push the opponents back into their own half. I think this could be dangerous when it comes to Thursday as with Antonio at right back and two naturally aggressive central midfielder s we could be dangerously exposed at the back.

    Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?

    We do not need to rush things on Thursday, and if West Ham are to outlast our opponents on a tricky night I think Obiang needs to play a big part, rather than to go gung-ho and sacrifice the away goal advantage we have.

    Home/Premier League