All Signs Point to West Ham Flirting With a New Formation

Things have been far to quiet at West Ham, as far as training and preparation social media content is concerned, and it suggests David Moyes has something up his sleeve.

Reminiscent of his previous time at the club, all signs currently point to David Moyes using a three centre-back system when play kicks off against Wolves. This formation has provided some success for Moyes and West Ham as it was used to avoid relegation in his previous stint, so should we be hopeful of reapplication?

If we look at Wolves, it kind of makes sense. Nuno’s high-attacking team uses a three-at-the-back system to provide width and speed to a relentless counterattack. This formation also allows for a more packed midfield with wingbacks pushing up the pitch to combat opposition possession.

The real tipped hand that has edged this ‘investigation’ forward was the limited details about the Hammers win over QPR in a closed-door friendly. No official news, no videos, and only a few images were released from this match.

What did slip through the Twitter cracks was the goalscorer list which included Michail Antonio and Sebastien Haller, both normal names to see, and then it continued on to list Albian Ajeti and Arthur Masuaku as additional goal scorers.

Let’s start with Masuaku. All reports suggest he’s gone this summer, but Moyes did bring the best out of him as a wingback feeding the ball into Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic. Seeing him and Cresswell playing together is important, as well, because Cresswell played at centre-back in the past with Masuaku at wingback.

Next up we have Albian Ajeti, another player who has been made spare parts by social media outlets since the stoppage began. Him popping up on the scoresheet isn’t technically odd, but why commit minutes to a player you aren’t keen on keeping? I believe the answer could be the fact that Moyes is preparing two different teams for the Wolves and Chelsea match.

Ajeti has been given such an awful chance to make an impact in a team that is starved for goals. The remedy to this problem and a bunch of other ‘who starts?’ problems is simple – make two teams for the compressed schedule ahead and rotate based on the opposition.

Would a 5-2-1-2 formation complemented by a 4-3-3 formation work? Possible, especially if the attacking force in the first one was Haller – Antonio – Fornals, but would a second-team front line of Felipe Anderson – Ajeti – Jarrod Bowen be good enough?

It’s very easy to see, David Moyes has his work cut out for him to stave off relegation this season. What could help him, however, is extending his team options by keeping formationally fluid and allowing his teams to pick themselves with excelling players. Some outside the box thinking could be exactly what is needed.