Winston Churchill said ,’ Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ I am sure if he were alive today, he would say the same about West Ham.
Marcellus said in Hamlet, ‘There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.’ Despite the fact that we are eleventh in the premier league, I feel there is something about that line which rings true.
How can this be after we beat Arsenal in our last home game and had a clean sheet? None of this makes sense.
So, I’m going to put my head above the parapet and no doubt I’ll be walking around like a headless chicken in the very near future. Basically, we are stuck in a system that does not suit the quality of the squad we have.
We played a supposed 4-4-2 formation against Wolves, but , in my opinion, that will always leave us too exposed at the back and we should play 5-3-2 to ensure we have sufficient cover if we want to use wing backs.
Arsene Wenger has been credited with introducing wing backs into the Premier League. He urged Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon to be more attack minded. This new role required immense stamina and speed over short distances.
We have employed a manager who is committed to this style of play. But when we look at the reality of the situation and the players he has at his disposal, the whole theory starts to fall apart. We have had the madness of playing Antonio in defence. Then, there is Masuaku, who does have qualities, but defence is not one of them. Zabeleta gives his all, but, is it fair to put this responsibility on a player who is reaching the end of his career? Fredericks is untried and so far, largely unavailable. Cresswell has had his problems and is only just showing the qualities we know he possesses.
First and foremost a side needs to have a strong defence. Was I the only person who saw that Wolves were about to score and that the Wolves’ pressure was inevitably going to lead to a goal? We seemed to have completely run out of steam. Then, if you are going to introduce Carroll, you need to ensure the wing backs get to the byline and cross the ball. But, by that time stamina and speed were in short supply.
So, perhaps we should be talking less about the mentality of the players and more about tactics, with the later showing more fluidity and adaptability. We shall see in the next few weeks whether all this was another phase, or we start to ship goals again. So, if you have read this, let’s have your ideas.