Green Street Hammers
Fansided

West Ham: A strategy from the past that might work well again

By Jeremiah Carson

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: The final score is displayed as Andy Carroll and Winston Reid of West Ham United celebrate victory after the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on May 10, 2016 in London, England. West Ham United are playing their last ever home match at the Boleyn Ground after their 112 year stay at the stadium. The Hammers will move to the Olympic Stadium for the 2016-17 season. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: The final score is displayed as Andy Carroll and Winston Reid of West Ham United celebrate victory after the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on May 10, 2016 in London, England. West Ham United are playing their last ever home match at the Boleyn Ground after their 112 year stay at the stadium. The Hammers will move to the Olympic Stadium for the 2016-17 season. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

As the pandemic shut down the sports world as we know it, West Ham found out that engaging football was working. Yet, a renewed tweak from the past could make it better.

Towards the end of the 2015-2016 West Ham season as the doors were closing on Upton Park the Hammers were clicking on all cylinders and attacking well. That unique Slaven Bilic formation was a 5-2-3 using wingbacks and a well advanced top 3 to keep the attack strong.

Most would agree that the current David Moyes formation of a 4-4-2 of sorts is working well but this tweak with these players could do some damage as well. However, A lot of that squad is no longer a prominent part of the current West Ham side but a few core pieces are still there.

Those few pieces are Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, and of course Mr. West Ham himself. However, in many ways, the Hammers squad has gotten better than that magical season and could potentially do some serious damage in this formation.

Possible Hammers 5-2-3 Formation

Fabianski

Ngakia – Diop – Rice – Ogbonna – Cresswell

Soucek – Fornals

Bowen – Haller – Antonio

Right from the start, a few questions might be how would Cress play as a wing-back again? Can Ngakia progress his game further? How advanced might Declan Rice play in that CB role? All valid concerns but with the proper tutelage and mentoring it’s totally achievable.

A major concern in this role is that you would most likely lose the on-field presence of Mark Noble and then the concern about who would take over at the new captain. There is no reason that Nobes cannot be the club captain and make either Cresswell or Ogbonna the on-field leader.

The midfield of Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals would need to be solid in both attacking and defending but together their combinations of power and skill could mesh well together. The nice part about this team compared to then is that on the bench you would see backups like Ryan Fredericks, Felipe Anderson, Snoddy, and Nobes.

Next. West Ham: As loaned out players return, questions will arise. dark

Understanding of course that if it’s not broke don’t fix it but what if it was just tweaked a bit like before. This formation would be a stretch from someone like Moyes but he has moved to a 5 at the back before, but this would be a much more attacking approach and if you want to relive that past then click on the link above and see just how fluently that formation worked.