West Ham lack composure in 2-0 loss to Bournemouth; Match Review

West Ham, why are you the way that you are? Just a week after such a staunch, exciting effort against Arsenal, the Arnautovic-less Hammers fail to do much of anything at Bournemouth. The Cherries took all three points in a toothless effort from the Irons.

I hate to say it, but the striker decision didn’t look great today. I’m not one to question the engineer, Manuel Pellegrini, but in a match that promised to be fast, the selection of Andy Carroll up top left West Ham a little one dimensional.

Now, that being said Andy Carroll looked not bad on the pitch today. Two things I was focusing on was seeing if he would come back and help out in the midfield, which he did, and whether or not he would put more effort in to get to the middle of the pitch, which he did. Carroll is essentially a one trick pony, but he got to the middle of the penalty area and got in the air when he could.

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There are two main reasons for Carroll’s ineffectiveness today. Firstly, his finishing is still lacking as he had a golden opportunity on his foot to take the lead in the match but somehow he skied it over the crossbar a foot out from the goal line. Secondly, the team failed to get the ball into the air for him, limiting the chances he had to make an impact.

As for his replacement, Chicharito came into the match in the 66th minute and had zero impact on the match. The idea was to get on a player who could play on the floor and make the most of the inside passing West Ham have gotten better at. However, Chicharito seemed off the mark and didn’t gel well with his teammates in this one.

Bournemouth traded possession for threatening counterattacks with their dual-striker system. The speed of Callum Wilson and Joshua King up the middle, supported by Ryan Fraser and David Brooks forms a deadly counterattack. West Ham did well to repel it all match long, however, a brilliant strike from Wilson off a bounced volley saw the opening goal scored and essentially sealed the match.

The players were just off in this one. They didn’t seem engaged, there was no movement when they had possession, and no pressure (as they showed they can bring) in the midfield when Bournemouth had the ball.

It was tactically a mess, in my opinion, and something West Ham can improve upon. In the end, the Cherries would net a goal on the counterattack again as West Ham brought on Chicharito, Diangana, and Snodgrass in advanced positions to try and find an equalizer.

West Ham players graded after disappointing loss to Bournemouth. dark. Next

Hopefully, the Arnautovic saga will be over when West Ham play Wolves in their next Premier League match, removing unwanted attention and distraction to the first team. A replacement is desperately needed, and one that fits Pellegrini’s style of play. Until then, the Hammers can hopefully beatdown Wimbledon in the FA Cup to get their mojo back.