David Moyes Could Change West Ham’s Formation To Attacking 3-5-2

With Michail Antonio returning from injury and Sebastien Haller amongst the goals, David Moyes may have to reshape his West Ham side.

David Moyes has found success with his current 3-4-2-1 formation. The system the Scot has developed has fixed West Ham’s defence woes as well as strengthening their attack. This was the case until Michail Antonio‘s injury.

Sebastien Haller has replaced the Englishman, but the team has lost some of it’s attacking fluency. In the club’s three games that Haller has played in the team has only scored three goals, compared to the eleven goals in the four matches before Antonio’s injury.

Now Antonio is closing to his return to the pitch. Many fans would have expected that he would slot straight back into the attack and Haller would drop to the bench. This switch could be seen as harsh on the Ivorian whose goal just won West Ham the match against Sheffield United.

One option Moyes could consider is a slight change to the team’s formation. The 57-year-old manager could drop one of his inside wingers in place of Antonio, moving the other winger into a central attacking midfielder role. This midfielder would play slightly ahead of defensive duo Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.

The formation would keep the same defensive solidity with the extra centre-back. At the same time, the attacker would become significantly more powerful with both Antonio and Haller in the line-up. The duo played in a similar system against Southampton last season. Both Antonio and Haller and were devastating that day and got on the scoresheet.

The only issue with the new system is that if Pablo Fornals is the chosen player to occupy the CAM role. The selection of Fornals may be the best choice because it is his natural position, but it would mean dropping Jarrod Bowen. The English winger is a workhorse down the right-side and Vladimir. Coufal would have to be prepared for the extra responsibility.

Whatever Moyes decides to do, he will do so with the backing of the West Ham fans. The Scot has won of the club’s faithful fans after turning the club from pushovers to a consistently competitive team.