How much has this man been missed?
Ask any West Ham why their results have gone downhill in the last month or so, and every one will give the same answer. Payet. The star man in a squad that has more of an all round solidity rather than an array of spectacular talents. Throughout the season so far, Payet has not only been one of the best players in the Premier League but he has complimented the rest of his team, so it is no surprise that Hammers fans are eagerly anticipating his return as well as a surge up the table. But how have the team been performing whilst Payet has been on the sidelines?
West Ham are without a win in five Premier League games, but have actually only lost one of those games against some tough teams. If you would have told West Ham fans that they would have clean sheets against Manchester United away, an in form Stoke at home and a (slightly) rejuvenated Swansea away, they would probably have laughed in your face. The reality is that West Ham have realized that without Dimitri Payet (lets not forget Sakho, Moses and Lanzini as well) Slaven Bilic has had to adopt a more defensive approach. This restricted West Ham’s attacking play at times, but reduced the chances of teams counter attacking and scoring in a similar way to how West Ham were scoring earlier in the season. Alex Song has come back into the side, Collins has replaced Reid and most importantly the clean sheets have coincided with James Tomkins filling in at right back, a more solid full back rather than a lacking in confidence Carl Jenkinson.
Looking at the stats from FourFourTwo’s statzone, West Ham had 27.3% possession against Swansea at the weekend. Just over 46% against Stoke, and 37% against Manchester United. Compare this to the start of the season, in the 0-2 victory at the Emirates, West Ham also had 37% of the ball. In the 0-3 at Anfield we had just under 37% of possession, so why have West Ham not been getting results despite having similar amounts of the ball? Slaven Bilic’s teams this season don’t aim to win the possession battle, the victories have been good counter attacking and using the ball effectively when they’ve had it. This derives from Payet as the creative hub. Devastating counter attacks with a clinical final ball win football matches, and Payet with Lanzini, Moses, Sakho etc around him, have the perfect combination.
It is clear that West Ham have been more solid recently, Bilic has used the players available to him to form a side capable of competing. The team in the last few weeks have had chances, and probably deserved more than they have got. But it is obvious that when a teams best player gets injured the style of play won’t function as well as before. The main thing for West Ham is that without five or six key players, they have still performed to a certain level, and haven’t been a push over for even the most in form teams in the league.
It seems that Bilic has weathered the storm, got some of his fringe players performing and showed the strength of his squad during an injury plagued month. Performances have been good, results not so much. But that is all likely to change, with Dimitri Payet potentially returning against Liverpool, the main man is back.
