How West Ham Can Take Victory Away At Everton

West Ham are playing Everton this weekend in a match that will be more closely contested than their league positions suggest.

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West Ham are a talented team. Their position in the league might not show it but they are. Recent victories against Sunderland and Chelsea have helped to prove this. Though they might not be in the position that fans and management would like there are reasons for positivity in recent weeks.

The matches against Sunderland and Chelsea showed that all important characteristic that good teams have. The ability to win while not playing your best football. Football is too fickle of a sport for anybody to be expected to play perfectly week in and week out. That is why being able to win even when playing poorly is important. That ability in itself shows resolve, metal and character. Three things that every good team has.

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The match against Everton will be interesting. The two teams are relatively similar in terms of overall talent and yet their league positions could not be more different. Good news for West Ham here is that their respective forms could not be more different either. West Ham are heating up. Everton are falling off. Right now they could be meeting at exactly the perfect time for West Ham to get a good result out of the match.

1: Romelu Lukaku

The first key to victory for West Ham will be isolating Romelu Lukaku. It’s no use stopping him once he has the ball. He’s too fast and too powerful. That’s a physical battle that any of West Ham’s central defenders will have to take themselves out of the match to win.

Thus, they need to deny him that opportunity entirely by denying him the ball. Lukaku feeds off through balls and crosses. When going to the races against Lukaku you’ve already lost because he’s practically half a horse. He’s 6’3’’ and 210lbs. This being the case you need to find a way to not need to do that.

2: Battles Out Wide

In order to do that West Ham will need to rely on their wing backs to win their respective contests with Yannick Bolasie and Kevin Mirallas. They need to be shown outside towards the line and not allowed to get crosses into the box.

If they can frustrate those two wingers by constantly pushing them wider and out of bounds then things will go pretty well defensively. That then allows for the three central defenders to use their numbers defending against Lukaku.

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It is a shame for the English national side that Ross Barkley hasn’t progressed the way he should have in recent years. There was a time when he was supposed to be the next Lampard or Gerrard. That said, he’s still dangerous. West Ham will need to be careful because with Everton lining up in the 4-3-3 and West Ham in their now familiar 3-4-3 Everton will have the numbers in the midfield.

3-4-3 really leaves the two central midfielders more isolated. The two wide players are wing backs remember that. Meanwhile 4-3-3 is a relatively narrow formation across the midfield. That means Everton’s three of Barry, Gueye, and Barkley will be up against West Ham’s Obiang and Noble. Those two will need to work incredibly hard to make sure they don’t get overrun and have the system play into Everton’s hands. If for a moment they’re not working a through ball is out to Lukaku and well, quite frankly we already discussed that.

Simone Zaza

Simone Zaza is going to come good. I like his work rate and his technique. I felt he wasted his time at Juventus last season and should have been playing for a club that would start him instead of letting his skills rust on the bench. That might be what the Hammers are paying for now. A years worth of rust. However, if he comes good we will have a genuinely quality player to lean on.

This match could very well be the one for him. It will be tough ask however. The Jagielka and Williams partnership might very well be the best center back combination in the Premier League. Jagielka should be starting for England instead of this Chris “Bumbling” Smalling rubbish and quite frankly Ashley Williams has been stellar for the past six years. The two together may lack glamour but they’re a damn fine partnership regardless.

Next: Player Ratings From Chelsea Win

West Ham need to get a result in this match. They simply need to. Even a draw is fine but a loss kills their mini revival dead in the water. Things seem to be lining up well here for West Ham they’ll just need to force a result to happen.

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How West Ham Can Beat Everton

By Barrett Rouen | Oct 29, 2016