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Instant Knee Jerk Overreactions to West Ham’s First PreSeason Match

By Jeff Catlin

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 04: Practise balls are seen on the pitch prior to the Women's FA Cup Final match between Manchester City Women and West Ham United Ladies at Wembley Stadium on May 04, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 04: Practise balls are seen on the pitch prior to the Women's FA Cup Final match between Manchester City Women and West Ham United Ladies at Wembley Stadium on May 04, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /
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West Ham United’s preseason got underway with a 3-2 victory. Despite being at less than full strength with some players yet to return from International Duty, it’s always a good time for knee jerk reactions!

The Formation: 4-1-4-1

A West Ham surprise! Only kidding, this is a formation Manuel Pellegrini employed often last season, especially after New Years. Carlos Sanchez started as the DM and Antonio was the lone striker.

Antonio up front is also something we’ve seen, and considering how the club has failed to land a top forward in the transfer market thus far, this could be something we see more of.  When Antonio was on the pitch he created chaos all over the place and scored a nice goal off a pass from Mark Noble.

By contrast, when Chicharito came on for the second half sporting his new #9 shirt, he did all the typical Chicharito things when he doesn’t score. Run around and not much else. I also liked how Filipe Anderson and Antonio switched spots for a few minutes; giving opponents another look.

And while the club has a lot of attacking options in Midfield and the wings, one way to get Lanzini, Fornals, Yarmolenko, and Antonio all on the pitch together might be that Antonio gets to be the lone striker.

Carlos Sanchez at DM, Declan Rice Not

Several players that haven’t seen much (if any) action in the last season made appearances today including Winston Reid, the aforementioned Yarmolenko and Carlos Sanchez—playing the Declan Rice DM role in the first half.

Although Sanchez scored the first goal off a set piece, he also had a few giveaways early on that were troublesome. But as a depth player and third choice DM (if Obiang stays) he’s fine.

Which brings us to Declan Rice; employed today in the position he came up: Center Half in the Second Half.  OK, I see what’s going on here.  Let Sanchez play, maybe showcase Obiang a little bit while getting Rice time as part of a defending pair. Gives options in the event of injury (the West Ham way) to Reid, Balbuena, etc.

Jack Wilshere’s Performance

We all know what Wilshire is capable of on his best days. We also know that Wilshere doesn’t play near often enough to be at his best most days. Today he looked the part and more in the second half. He controlled the ball and play just as an attacking central midfielder of his caliber should, linking up play, making the clever pass and drawing defenders to him, opening space for his teammates.

It is also interesting to note that he did not play alongside Mark Noble. Many supporters think that Noble and Wilshire are the same type of player and can’t really function together. Here was an example of that in action.

Noble was really good in his own right in the first half, and so was Wilshere. Let’s see if it lasts. If it gives the Manager a selection headache in midfield, great.