West Ham have started the Premier League season dreadfully and pressure is beginning to build on manager David Moyes.
With the international break upon us, Moyes has two weeks to reflect on the recent 1-0 loss to Everton and the disappointing form that leaves the Hammers 18th in the table.
Big money was spent in the summer and few of the new signings have hit the ground running or been given a chance – so how can West Ham turn it around and where’s it going wrong?
How can David Moyes fix West Ham’s woeful start to the season?
Keeping Possession
One of the biggest problems West Ham have suffered with is poor ball retention. They have simply been giving the ball away far too often. With Thilo Kehrer at the back West Ham have a centre-back capable passing out from the back. Moyes wants the Hammers to pass out from the back more but they’re struggling to progress the ball through the thirds and often find themselves passing and going nowhere in their own half.
To fix this issue there needs to be better movement ahead of the ball from the attacking players. Also, Tomas Soucek, who has been in bad form and is uncomfortable in possession should be dropped. West Ham need a more press resistant midfielder and a better passer of the ball.
The options are to bring Flynn Downes into the side, he is fantastic on the ball and seems like a Mark Noble type with more running ability. Or to tweak formation into a 4-3-3 and have Declan Rice sitting in midfield with Lucas Paqueta and Pablo Fornals either side of him. This means West Ham have more technical players involved in the build-up and retaining the ball and all three are hard workers without it.
Lack of Chances Created
West Ham have scored the fewest goals from opening play (two) in the Premier League this season. The club’s expected goals is down at 7.6. That’s 1.1 goals a game they should be scoring but aren’t due to wastefulness. West Ham also average 0.9 big chances per game – yes, that’s less than one big opportunity to score per match.
Essentially, more chances need to be created. There has been a big problem of making poor passing decisions on the counter-attack. West Ham were excellent on the counter last season and with Jarrod Bowen not firing the team has suffered.
Maxwel Cornet has looked promising in the Conference League and when coming off the bench with his pace and direct running. Perhaps he deserves a start.
Paqueta is set to be the main creator but is still getting up to speed with English football and his strength is his through balls and he doesn’t have runners beyond him. Moyes should play him as a No.8 rather than a No.10 to begin counters with his passing to the pace of Bowen and Cornet.
Additionally, he can be frustrating but Said Benrahma deserves more minutes – Fornals isn’t playing well on the left and could instead move central to allow the Algerian to play on the wing. Benrahma has been one of few bright sparks this season but is still getting benched for the trusted out of form Fornals.
The Scamacca Dilemma
Gianluca Scamacca has been scoring for fun in the Conference League but it’s not happening in the Prem. The Italian could be given more minutes but with West Ham not creating chances he’s barely had a shooting opportunity – he needs to be supplied. Michail Antonio continues to work hard and West Ham’s lack of goals isn’t down to his inconsistent finishing.
It’s frustrating to see a player like Scamacca show glimpses of talent but yet not be given a proper chance in the league but the truth is any striker would be finding it tough up front for West Ham right now.
Many believe Antonio and Scamacca could work well up front together or Antonio could play in an inside winger role to support him. Moyes has recently hinted at not wanting to play a 4-4-2 and he said the only chance of seeing them together is if West Ham change and use a back five – what Moyes used in pre-season to little success.
Defensively
To end on a positive the defence has actually been good. Kehrer and Kurt Zouma look to be forming a great partnership, bringing in the German for less than West Ham sold Issa Diop for looks like a Moyes masterstroke. Aaron Cresswell comes in for criticism with Emerson challenging him but the set-piece specialist has been decent this season even if supporters would like to see more of the ex-Chelsea man for a bit more excitement.
Vladimir Coufal has been fairly poor so far. His tackle numbers are high but he’s another being not good enough when on the ball this season. His long balls up the line just give away possession and are becoming increasingly annoying.
Ben Johnson was playing well prior to injury and deserves a shot a right-back when he recovers. Harrison Ashby is a promising youngster who deserves game time in Europe but putting him in, in the league when the team is struggling would be a risk.
Moyes’ side expected goals against is 1.1 per game and considering we’ve already faced top sides like Man City, Chelsea, Spurs and even Graham Potter’s Brighton that is okay.