With our first home game of the season approaching, I want to look ahead to what lies beyond the current gloom and start discussing the areas I believe can change our fortunes. The contributors on here have done an excellent job of dissecting our on and off-field issues and these articles have raised a number of poignant discussion topics. Credit to all of the writers for exploring the positives, as well as the negatives, in what has been a turbulent time for everyone involved with West Ham. Hopefully, this article continues that trend and looks ahead to what we can do, rather than behind at what has passed.
So, with that in mind, throw on your manager hats and prepare to critique!
Catalysing change
In my opinion, something radical needs to happen to kick start our season. Against Huddersfield, the manager will have a similar squad to last season (although a lot thinner – sorry, I couldn’t help myself) but with two quality first team additions, Hernandez and Zabaleta.
The reason for drawing attention to this is to highlight the lack of freshness in the ranks. Sometimes, the addition of new recruits can inject new life and vigour into a team, but sadly this hasn’t been the case for us so far. A big part of this is down to the new players not having long to gel and also not being available at the same time – since Arnautovic’s suspension.
While Hernandez has been a breath of fresh air and probably our best player – along with young Declan Rice – his efforts haven’t been matched by the majority of the team and they have failed to inject the positivity they deserve.
With the transfer window firmly shut until January, we can all agree that there is no catalyst for change here.
Another area that can bring change is in management. Again, this is an area that has been discussed in great detail but it isn’t one I wish to explore in this article. This article is looking at what we can do with what we’ve got, not what might happen in a speculative and highly unpredictable future.
So, with another area of potential change put aside, where does that leave us?
Tactics and formation
As I stated at the beginning of the article, something radical needs to happen in order to break us out of our current form. In my opinion, the best way to achieve this is to freshen up the formation and tactics.
There are numerous potential benefits to this and in our current form, I can see little downside. After the 3-0 at Newcastle the bar is low and we should take advantage of that.
Of the potential benefits, the following two make the strongest case for change.
1. Change of focus
The players have obviously been working on a 4-2-3-1 formation over the summer and it appears that Bilic is trying to implement a more possession based passing game. For whatever reasons, this hasn’t worked (yet) and the players must be losing confidence. Heads drop as soon as we concede and one has to wonder how demoralising this is for the players. Yes, they get paid a lot of money etc but they are human, young and under incredible pressure. We shouldn’t underestimate the effect this has and something needs to switch the player’s focus away from this and refocus it elsewhere. Learning, implementing and operating in a new system could be a welcome distraction and focus minds on their tasks, rather than the plethora of negative thoughts available at request.
2. Getting the best from the players available
One criticism that I have of Bilic is his tactics, or more specifically his lack of tactical flexibility. Strangely, this is in stark contrast to his first season when he was open to changing formation and tact on a regular basis.
Bilic has become a manager that try’s to fit the players to the tactic, rather than creating a tactic that gets the best out of the available players. This became clear with his persistence of the 4-2-3-1, a formation that is heavily reliant on the double pivot shielding the back four. One of these players has to be able to receive the ball under pressure and buy time for the team to transition, with the other player capable of breaking up attacks and sniffing out the danger. One, or ideally both, should have an excellent passing range in order to start counter attacks or sustain pressure when building from the back. With Obiang and Noble’s lack of form, moving away from this formation could have helped the team significantly. With full backs playing high up the pitch there is no surprise that we’ve come under severe defensive pressure and have subsequently conceded so many goals.
Formations
Below I’m going to put a selection of formations and give some reasons as to why they could work. These have all been suggested based on the suitability of the players available for Huddersfield.
4-3-3
This formation keeps Zabaleta in the team and his importance as a leader, along with his experience, could be crucial. This is the only formation of the three that involves him and this is purely based on what I believe to best for the team and formation.
This formation allows us to defend in numbers when needed – dropping into a 4-5-1 – which could be key against a well drilled and organised team. There are also less significant changes in the formation which should ease the transition from the 4-2-3-1 and make the players feel more comfortable. This might not be the radical move we want, but it could be a conservative middle ground.
The risk is that Hernandez gets isolated and the wide men get pinned back. However, Hernandez is remarkably good with his back to goal, considering his height, and with powerful, fast and skilful support on the wings, he shouldn’t be isolated for long.
Holland has been brought in to add pace and a fresh mentality. He’ll be dying to impress and work his socks off for the team. This can be infectious and the players could gain a lot from this young man, who has been pulling up trees in PL2 team. He also brings some much-needed pace to the side, as well as unpredictability and skill.
3-4-3
This and the following formation are based on playing with three centre backs and two wing-backs. This is why Zabaleta missed out, unfortunately, although I did consider bringing him into centre midfield, which Guardiola did numerous times last season. However, the “square pegs in round holes” argument would be a valid one and maybe it’s one risk too many. Also, I can already feel the searing comments of certain patrons on here so I’ll leave this one… for now ;)
With the personnel available to us, I believe this to be our best solution. We utilise three centre-backs, allowing us to draft in the experience of Collins or the raw talent of Rice – I’ve opted for the latter due to his passing range and mobility. It allows our forward-thinking full backs the licence to play higher up the pitch with less risk of them getting caught out of the game. It gives us support for Hernandez upfront and allows us to shield the defence even further at our core with two central midfielders. This also addresses our main weakness this season, conceding opportunities through the centre of the pitch. We force our opposition to play wider and also have enough presence up front to make them think twice about committing too many bodies forward.
The negative aspect of this formation is losing Zabaleta and only being able to play two of Rice, Kouyate, Obiang and Noble in the centre.
3-5-2
This is the riskiest of tactic. The reason for the risk is the potential reward but it does involve a contentious decision – to play Antonio as a wing back – and also relies on the fitness of Andy Carroll. I personally think Antonio plays the wing-back role well when the team hold their shape and discipline. However, I accept it’s a risk/reward call. If available, Sakho could also be paired with Hernandez but due to the uncertainty surrounding him, I’ve opted to leave him out of these examples.
The key in this, for me, is playing our game where our strengths lie. This is on the flanks and not in the centre, where we’ve been attempting to play. Aside from Hernandez, our best and most threatening attacking talent exists out wide in Antonio. His pace, power and unpredictability can terrorise the opposition and getting him on the ball deeper in our own half gives him more opportunity to get up the pitch quickly and cause problems. Yes, I know he may get caught out once or twice, or more, but the team can be setup to cover this. Obiang, our most defensive minded midfielder, can shadow his side of the pitch and drop in for him as soon as he bolts forward.
Cresswell on the opposite flank offers another outlet and is arguably more comfortable going forward than defending. These players offer us a direct attacking threat, as well as a vital outlet when we’re under pressure.
The main negative to this tactic is the risk around Antonio but this is mitigated by the tactical setup of the team and ensuring everyone is on the same page strategically. I think it’s a risk worth taking at a time when we need something to happen for us. It also relies on a fit Andy Carroll, which may prevent us starting with it. However, we could if we used Sakho in his place and we could also change to it in the latter stages of the match if Carroll comes on from the bench.
Onwards and upwards
In a testing period for our club on and off the pitch it’s time to look forward and find positivity where we can. We are West Ham and that will never change. Fortune may be forever hidden but that will never stop our pursuit of it or our passionate support from the terraces and beyond. In a time of turmoil, positivity can be the catalyst to take us to calmer waters, and that all starts with us, the fans.
Please criticise, discuss and dissect the formations and article to your heart’s content as nothing makes me happier than seeing constructive discussions going on about the team, rather than the antics of our board and current situation, that are all sadly beyond our control.
Onwards and upwards – forget he protests and focus that energy on the team, giving all the positivity we’ve got!
COYI