5 ways West Ham’s attack could line up during the season

PRESTON, ENGLAND - JULY 21: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United celebrates scoring with Jack Wilshere during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)
PRESTON, ENGLAND - JULY 21: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United celebrates scoring with Jack Wilshere during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images) /
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PRESTON, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United celebrates scoring with Jack Wilshere during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)
PRESTON, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United celebrates scoring with Jack Wilshere during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images) /

Striker: Arnautovic Wingers: Anderson & Yarmolenko

No.10: Wilshere (Lanzini)

As we debated in an earlier article, Pellegrini could look to shore up the midfield by droppign one of the strikers into a midfield role. This No.10 role is less free than the role given to Arnautovic in the previous slide, as it would be on them to hassle the defensive midfielders of the other side when in defence.

Lanzini is a great player in this role, as he is wonderful on the ball and can ghost past players with a sharp turn of pace, however his injury means there is a gap in that position right now. In the current squad, I would expect Wilshere to take up that ball carrying job, as his creativity is hardly poor. He would also give his all in the defensive side of things, harassing and pushing the opposition midfield into mistakes.

The danger with this formation is that the attack get isolated if the midfield doesn’t push up with them. The striker can end up just trying to hold up the ball as everyone chases forward, and not causing much damage. However given the workrate of Wilshere/Lanzini I don’t think that would bee too much of an issue.