A surprise around West Ham has been their unity and teamwork. However, the thought and the action need to be one and the same, as that is what needs to happen before their away trip to Everton.
The last time West Ham took the pitch against Crystal Palace they looked inconsistent, sloppy, and just not in it. Mix that with a few unfortunate calls and just like that, 3 points go down the drain. That performance was tough to watch because that type of performance hadn’t happened much this season.
The lone West Ham goal in that match did, however, show amazing unity from the midfield but other than that play, that was it. Luckily for the Hammers, the international break came at the right time and has hopefully restored some of that style of play.
If you go back just a week prior when the Hammers went to Bournemouth, both goals were set up by beautiful team play down the pitch showing a growing unity with one another in knowing where and when the pass would be coming in.
The two setups in that match were almost mirrored images of each other. The fist was played in by a long ball from Felipe Anderson to Sebastien Haller and then flicked to Andriy Yarmolenko for the goal. The second, a long Yarmo pass into Anderson who then setup Aaron Cresswell perfectly.
Going back just a week prior to that match when West Ham shutout United, once again some beautiful teamwork setup Yarmolenko’s goal. The trust and composure of Mark Noble to hold the ball then flick it back to Anderson at just the right time for Yarmolenko to get in the right position to send it home.
All of those plays and many more this year are just some of the examples of why it has been so important for the starting XI to keep growing the unity from within and not let it slip away as it did for the most part during the Palace match.
With all of these setup plays, they came from the counter and that might come into effect this weekend as Everton and there Gaffer will be pressing to get goals to save his job. Seeing those setup plays and the way the players have been moving the ball around has been new and fun to watch for Hammers fans young and old.
Footballers cannot be on 100% of the time and there will be mistakes, but it is imperative that they learn quickly from them and bond once more. If unity and teamwork can be restored, this matchup looks really favorable for the Hammers coming out of the break.