West Ham has been hit with some tough injury news again, as first-choice Striker Sebastien Haller is unlikely to be fit for Tuesday’s clash against Spurs.
During West Ham’s 2-0 defeat to Wolves in their first match back since the restart of the season, it was very clear to see why the Hammers had such trouble creation chances in the match. It seemed as though David Moyes deployed some variant of a 4-4-2 formation, but with no true strikers on the pitch.
Antonio has played Striker at times and has had some success, but if the Hammers hope to get anything out of their massive match against bitter rivals Spurs, then David Moyes needs to make some tough tactical decisions.
Jarrod Bowen seemed the most lively of the West Ham players on Saturday. He was making intelligent runs in behind the Wolves backline and has the proper finishing ability to be the Irons main man up top. Antonio would be better served as a super-sub or starting out wide in the starting XI, whereas Anderson just simply looked out of place up top.
Spurs played fairly well against Manchester United in their first game back from project restart, however, they did look as though they have some defensive frailties in the back. I don’t think that Eric Dier should scare any West Ham player, and with some ambitious attacking tactics deployed by Moyes, I think the Hammers could give Mourinho and Spurs a proper go.
Another positive of trying out Bowen up top is the opportunity to bring another play-maker into the side like Yarmolenko or Lanzini. I think that Noble and Soucek were fairly solid in the Wolves game and managed the game without too many issues, so getting a few more creative players on the pitch could only help the Hammers chances.
Overall, the Hammers are in a really tough spot in the table at the current moment. The team needs results and has a few major injuries that will only make the job tougher. However, Jarrod Bowen looks to be one of the few major bright spots in the squad, and I think giving him the nod up top could ignite our offensive attack and get us a big result on Tuesday.