West Ham need to pick up three points sooner rather than later and a trip to Villa Park could, and probably should, amount to just that.
Although this is a game that the Hammers are certainly capable of winning, there is truth in the cliche that there is no such thing as an ‘easy game’ in the Premier League. Villa put in a resolute second half display against Newcastle United in their last league fixture, with Jordan Ayew producing the goods once again to salvage a 1-1 draw for the league strugglers.
Bringing in Remi Garde has not resulted in the turnaround of results that some Villa fans may have expected. This provides the perfect foundation for West Ham to give it a good go this afternoon. The Hammers haven’t won in seven trips to Villa Park and it is about time that run of form changed.
An important part of West Ham’s play today involves going forward. Against Swansea, the forward play was almost non-existent, with a gap between midfield and up front so large it was difficult to not feel sorry for Nikica Jelavic.
Jelavic is not Diafra Sakho, he needs regular supply into the box and constant support from attacking midfielders. Sakho usually runs his socks off when he plays and his pace creates gaps for runners to support. In terms of Jelavic against Swansea, the effort was there but this was undermined by a complete lack of attacking backup from the midfield.
This is the one sign of a tentative approach from Bilic so far. When West Ham’s best players have been injured, the Croatian has often resorted to shutting up shop. This has clearly worked in the sense that West Ham are unbeaten in four, conceding once in the process. However, there comes a time when a few more risks need to be taken and even now, the Hammers have enough quality to do some damage against the likes of Aston Villa.
In order to improve things, the supply to the target man (Bilic’s preferred choice at the moment) needs to be so much better. The top pass combinations to Jelavic against Swansea was from James Tomkins with three passes and Adrian with three as well. This shows that the Hammers are more likely to lump it to the striker rather than attempt to play through the midfield. Speaking of the midfield, they could only pass the ball to Jelavic three times in 90 minutes. Three times. Without sounding too negative, this is pretty dire.
Jelavic was isolated and frustrated at the tip of the West Ham’s attack against Swansea
Whether it is Andy Carroll or Jelavic leading the line today, the midfield needs to press on and take the game to the opposition. If the Hammers commit men forward, there will be more of a supply into the box and that is where the likes of Jelavic and Carroll become a threat. This can be done by seeing more of the ball as 27% possession against Swansea was never going to result in anything more than a 0-0.
Overall, this may sound like a negative attack on Slaven Bilic but it isn’t, the Croat has set his team up defensively in the past few games and points have been picked up. However, if the Hammers want to start winning games again, there needs to be more of an attacking intent this afternoon.
The Hammers can still play good quality attacking football with the likes of Jelavic or Carroll in the side, they just need to be more imaginative with their forward play. If the team can attack in wide areas, delivering a regular supply into the opposition box, they will give themselves the best possible chance of picking up a much-needed three points in a busy Christmas fixture list.
