Should West Ham drop Mark Noble for Chicharito against Bournemouth?
West Ham need to adjust their shape to take on Bournemouth this weekend. Should Noble be dropped for Chicharito for the clash at the London Stadium.
There weren’t too many positives to take from the Liverpool defeat, but Pellegrini will still be looking at changes he can make. It was pretty obvious that West Ham lacked some transition to attack, so could Noble be sacrificed to make way for another attacker?
It might be a bit harsh to make changes after one tough game, but it has to be on the manager’s mind. Also he will want to make a good impression in his first home game. Bournemouth are not a great side defensively, and Pellegrini will look at this match as one he can look to push.
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Shape Changing
Whilst it may be crazy to think that after conceding 4 goals we should be looking at becoming more attacking I don’t think it would have mattered. The painful issue at the weekend was Liverpool were miles better than us, and during defensive periods of the game we were not switched on enough. When Rice came off for Snodgrass nothing really changed, and that’s all the shape change I am suggesting.
By bringing Chicharito on for Noble, I think we would be able to use Arnautovic to his full abilities and really push the opposition. Chicharito will busy the centrebacks and keep them occupied, allowing Arnautovic to roam a bit deeper, collect the ball in space or make runs whilst not being watched.
Rice will fill in the more defensive duties, and allow Wilshere to have a more active role in the middle. Against Liverpool there were frequently times that Wilshere and Noble were trying to occupy the same space, and I’m not sure how useful they are together. Wilshere is more progressive with the ball and I do want to see more of what he can do as his match fitness returns.
Next. 5 lessons learned from West Ham's Liverpool defeat. dark
Reverting to a conventional 4-4-2/4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1 may help the ball get forward more often as well, because before we saw the attackers have to drop off in order to collect the ball on Sunday, and the deeper they are the less dangerous they are. This change of shape could completely alter how the Hammers progress up the pitch for the better.