There is no doubt that West Ham are having a great season. Joint 6th in the league, just knocked Liverpool out of the cup and have beaten Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea to name a few.
The problem for us fans this season, is that we have flattered to deceive in some of the smaller games. It would be spoilt to suggest that we should be winning every match, and 6th is a fantastic achievement for the season so far. But if we had the ability to kill the smaller teams, we could be looking even further up the table.
The problem seems to lie with match preparation. Slaven Bilic goes into the big matches with a game plan, which is often contain and counter attack. Defending as a team has been one of the highlights of the season, with a strong defence and a midfield three who’s immediate thought is not to concede. Scoring goals isn’t priority. So defending comes naturally to the majority of our starting eleven, every player has been putting a shift in. But in the smaller, less high profile games, the midfield players seem lost at times. Do they maraud forward? Who in the midfield three should be furthest up the pitch? Who stays back?
This issue with three defensive minded midfielders means that Valencia (or Carroll/Sakho/Emenike/Jelavic (when he played) is left isolated. Valencia, in particular, isn’t a striker that can properly function on his own up front. Despite recent goals, and some decent performances, he needs someone with him that can compliment him. Like Sakho did last season when they both played.
When Jelavic was playing he was so often less isolated, working hard but not getting any of the ball. Strike partnerships had gone out of fashion, but we have seen in recent years that if they work (Sakho/Valencia, Deeney/Ighalo, Vardy/Okazaki) they can cause so many problems in a league where defending isn’t what it once was.
Carroll is coming back to full fitness. He can play up top on his own, but that often means our defenders play long ball all game because they have an out ball. If someone played off Carroll, like Valencia, then we would have both options. Carroll can win the ball all day in the air, and Valencia loves to go in behind. This would give any defence nightmares if Payet was playing just behind the two of them.
Playing 4-4-2 would mean Payet is playing on the left again. So we could revert to a midfield diamond, with attacking full backs, that would keep a defensive structure but not leave an isolated striker chasing the ball all game.
We don’t have two fully functioning wingers at the moment. Antonio has been great, but Payet hasn’t been performing on the left, and despite a decent cameo against Norwich, Moses doesn’t convince.
It is surely worth considering in the smaller games at home. The amount of fans I’ve seen complaining about a defensive approach playing three in midfield in these games is ridiculous, so maybe Bilic could start with two up front instead of changing it later in the game.
Carroll is a useful impact sub but could be used more effectively. We seem to cause so many problems late in games, when we throw on the cavalry and really go for it. Two strikers, Payet floating, full backs flying forward, and the drive is brought from the midfielders who keep recycling the ball and bringing the dangerous players into the game. If we started giving teams like Norwich, Bournemouth and Newcastle a battering from the start rather than late on, we could have seen a few more wins this season.
We have shown them more respect than any of the big teams, probably because the players know their roles in a defensive formation, where they don’t in an attacking sense.
Bilic could give it a try, and if it isn’t working it’s easily changed.
The big teams are wary of us this season, they know we are a threat and are tough to beat. The smaller teams haven’t quite got the message yet, so shaking it up could be exactly what’s needed to scare them and show them that we should be feared.
