With a 2-1 scoreline, West Ham continued their unbeaten preseason against Brentford, however big question marks and concerns loom for the season ahead.
Defensive Depth
The starting back four were very worrisome outside of the usual rock that Angelo Ogbonna is. Ogbonna led the way with aerial dominance and superb tackling, breaking up the Brentford attack before it could finish off the Hammers on numerous occasions. Outside of the Italian, there were major issues.
Ryan Fredericks may be fine cover for Ben Johnson at left-back acting as a depth bench option, but as a starter, Fredericks makes it far too easy for the opposition to attack down his wing. His greatest assets is his speed but he can only really use it going forward. Defensively, Fredericks isn’t a sharp tackler and allows far too much room for creative players. Thankfully, Said Benrahma wasn’t playing.
Ogbonna’s centre-back partner was Fabian Balbuena, and if his start was a showcase to possible suitors, that well has likely run dry. A rushed passer who can rarely find a target, Balbuena’s flashes of long-ball brilliance are counterweighted by suicide passes to his defenders and turnovers in his own half.
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And on the left Aaron Cresswell was the typical Aaron Cresswell. He overlapped, he was a constant outlet at the halfway line, he stepped up in the opposition’s half, and he completely sewered his team on defence. He doesn’t have the speed and positional awareness to contribute anymore and Masuaku looks clear of him for left-back.
Striker Depth
Sebastien Haller had a quiet first half with Andriy Yarmolenko scoring the opening goal for West Ham and the Frenchman failing to get on the scoresheet. Replaced at halftime with the second squad striker Michail Antonio, Haller cooled off from his hattrick performance against Ipswich.
Antonio, on the other hand, held up the ball well, overlapped with Anderson really well, and made a terrific run, shielding the ball and setting up Tomas Soucek for the winning goal in the match. The problem is that when he went off injured a few minutes later, Xande Silva wasn’t selected and the team’s offence basically halted.
No depth at striker means limited opportunities if Haller isn’t firing and Antonio is out injured. There was no reason to supporters knowledge why Silva wasn’t picked to have a run out with a strong attacking compliment behind him, if it is down to the manager’s trust then this is an even bigger concern.
Rice-less Midfield
Declan Rice’s future is again unclear as questions about the board’s resiliency to not sell their best player get called into question. Out with an injury today, Rice was missed especially in the first half. Noble was fine, Soucek was great, Cullen was good, but Jack Wilshere was a mess yet again and without Rice anchoring beside Soucek there will be massive question marks about this team’s defensive resolve.
The match was solid for West Ham, especially their second-half team. Ben Johnson played well, Felipe Anderson took another step forward, Manuel Lanzini looks like he’s back on track to his former glory, and Soucek proved he’s still exceptional. Still, with negative news around West Ham keeping Rice the win feels hollow.