Green Street Hammers
Fansided

‘Predicting’ an Unchanged XI for West Ham vs. Norwich

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 01: Andriy Yarmolenko of West Ham celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on July 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 01: Andriy Yarmolenko of West Ham celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on July 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With what could be the easiest predicted West Ham team all season, how can the same XI of Hammers players get a better result against Norwich?

There are two main areas that West Ham must improve at to get a result against Norwich where they failed to against Burnley. The first being tactics and the second being individual errors at both ends of the pitch.

Tactically there are a few things Moyes can do to inspire some change in the same group of four attackers. Namely, this means switching Andriy Yarmolenko from winger to striker and making Antonio a wide player to utilize his pace better. Read more about this here!

Individual errors have caused point drops from the Hammers in crucial games since the restart. If Cresswell could mark his man West Ham nab at least one point against Burnley. If Diop knew where his man was against Wolves that game has a result in it. If Fornals didn’t play Gayle onside there are three points from the Newcastle match.

light. Hot. How David Moyes can get the same XI firing against Norwich

But, this goes both ways as the team needs to finish their chances better. Yarmolenko needs to shoot more and have a quicker release, which he struggled with against Burnley. Antonio needs to be more clinical. Bowen needs to get his shots away quicker. Haller needs to hustle harder and assert himself into the game better.

If these can be sorted out THIS team can cruise out of Carrow Road with all three points:

Fabianski
Fredericks – Diop – Ogbonna – Cresswell
Rice – Soucek
Bowen – Fornals – Antonio
Yarmolenko

Bench: Randolph, Johnson, Masuaku, Balbuena, Noble, Wilshere, Lanzini, Ajeti, Haller

The slight tweak in the attack of flipping Yarmolenko-Bowen-Haller around the front three should be enough to better utilize the team’s attacking prowess against a team like Norwich who will comfortably allow the Hammers to have possession.

With Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons at the fullback positions, Bowen and Antonio’s speed can match them, while also pressing them in the attack. Yarmolenko against a speedy Lewis could be a large mismatch and possible weak link in the Hammers armour.

Next. Moyes’ Lack of Squad Rotation Could Be Reaching Crisis Point. dark

If confidence abounds in the West Ham lockerroom, there is no reason to believe the three points won’t be coming back to East London with the lads. Some slight positional tweaking and personal responsibility to avoid individual errors should be enough to finish off the Canaries Premier League lives. Hopefully.