West Ham 1-2 Bournemouth Match Review; Too soon to panic?

In a match pegged as a winnable game for West Ham, the new look Hammers fail to show up for a full 90 minutes and suffer an inexcusable loss at home. Bournemouth weathered a first-half storm and capitalized on growing opportunities to come from behind and take all three points in East London.

Well, a game West Ham should have won has slipped through their fingers at home. Things are not going to get easier for the Irons as this home loss to Bournemouth only puts more mounting pressure on the players and manager ahead of a tough string of fixtures waiting in the coming weeks.

Where did it all go wrong? 

Some would say from team selection West Ham and Pellegrini got it wrong. Most were happy to see Arnautovic and Chicharito starting up top together, signaling a “go for it” mentality from the Hammers, but the squad omissions had supporters head-scratching.

Two young players set to be West Ham players for years to come were left out, as Declan Rice and Ryan Fredericks lost not only their starting jobs but also bench positions. It’s confusing as Rice was one of three midfielders who underperformed against Liverpool but both Noble and Wilshere retained their positions.

As for Fredericks, he lost out to Pablo Zabaleta at right-back. The veteran performed well against Bournemouth but dropping Fredericks because he couldn’t contain Sadio Mane and the Liverpool attack is extremely unfair to the young defender.

Center-back Issues?

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It was clear in the second half that the communication between Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena is not where it should be. Chalk it up to an Italian and Paraguayan having to come together as a unit, but it needs to improve and fast.

Ogbonna and Balbuena both looked silly on Callum Wilson’s goal that leveled the match. Balbuena is clearly a player who likes to step up to make a tackle, but with Ogbonna not covering for him, this flawed strategy caused problems for Fabianski in net.

Realistically it is time for Issa Diop to get into the first team. Flip a coin to decide who loses their position, but someone needs to be dropped after that display. While Ogbonna may be the favorite to remain in the side he has been exposed multiple times in two games and has not been solid enough at the back.

Bournemouth really beat West Ham at their own game when it comes to center-backs getting involved in set-piece plays. Nathan Ake was on the end of virtually EVERY aerial ball West Ham put into the box for Arnie and Chicha, while Steve Cook scored the winning goal off of a set piece delivery that saw him expose Ogbonna.

The Anderson Issue

Record transfer fee player not performing to their £ value? Yup, and it’s a tale as old as time. The issue with Anderson not being on the score sheet yet is that he really hasn’t looked even close to the player West Ham believed they were buying. Down the left side, Anderson wasn’t able to outrun or dribble passed (the gorgeously named) Adam Smith at right-back.

There was a general lack of urgency in his game on both sides of the ball. When under pressure his vision would disappear and turnovers were plenty. When not pressured his vision mislead him multiple times, misplacing passes or completely missing targets. He also didn’t offer much with his crosses which were sold as elite tools in his repertoire.

Defensively he was picked apart, but I don’t believe this to totally be his fault. Bournemouth did well to cross up the fullbacks, specifically Arthur Masuaku at left-back, pulling him away from his positioning to track King or Wilson runs. Anderson was not tracking back nearly enough, but he also isn’t a midfielder. The team was supposedly set up 4-4-1-1 but if you know anything about Pellegrini this was a classic 4-2-2-2 formation. Anderson was supposed to stay high in this position and Wilshere/Noble was supposed to drop in to help with defensive coverage.

Time to Panic?

No, maybe not just yet but it is certainly time to be concerned. West Ham has looked completely disjointed on the pitch through two games. Liverpool away was going to be a difficult game, but this match was ripe for a win. The fact the same issues remained for the Hammers is that is most concerning.

The disconnect between the forwards and defenders is completely related to a midfield without an identity. Wilshere looked great today moving forward but there is something missing in the partnership with him and Noble.

The panic may creep into Hammer’s fans minds when they look at the upcoming fixtures list. Arsenal away, Wolves home, Everton away, Chelsea home, Manchester United Home, with a Carabao Cup fixture with AFC Wimbledon mixed in there as well. There are not a lot of prospective points in those fixtures and could see West Ham off to a horrible start of the season well into September.

So in an effort to end on the right foot lets look at the few positives from this match. Fabianski saved West Ham yet again with some stellar keeping. Sure Wilson megged him on the first goal, but he got the best of the striker early in the match with a ridiculous, rebound-free save.

Also, West Ham dominated possession in the match, seeing the lions share of the ball with 61%. To be fair most of this came in the first half, but what West Ham did well was hold onto the ball and probe for more enticing runs, rather than wasting possession on lesser options.

Lastly, Arnautovic scored! It was weird not seeing Noble stepping up for the penalty kick won by Chicharito, but I suppose getting Arnautovic in the goals early and switching on beast-mode is always a good idea.

Arsenal awaits the Hammers across London at the Emirates. As for game plan? Scrap the film from the first two matches and try to nail down a strategy that either bypasses the midfield or straightens out their positioning better. Oh, and bring in Diop!