Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek dropped, Gianluca Scamacca starts – West Ham line-up fans are crying out for David Moyes to pick and kickstart season after £150million transfer spree
West Ham splashed out on £150million worth of talent this summer, but fans keep questioning why David Moyes is persevering with the same XI.
The Hammers have been predictable in their team selection week-in, week out and, while it has largely worked in recent seasons, it’s certainly not working now.
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Back-to-back top seven finishes and a Europa League semi-final last season perhaps justified Moyes not deviating too much from his tried and trusted group.
However, now must be the time when things are freshened up significantly for their Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday.
Fans have been crying out for the owners to spend some cash on new players – now they are in the door, why aren’t they on the pitch?
The Hammers sit third from bottom in the Premier League with five defeats from their opening seven games.
Particularly concerning is the fact they have only scored three goals from those games, with plenty of that summer outlay on attacking talent including Gianluca Scamacca, who has so far spent the majority of his time at his new club on the bench.
talkSPORT understands Moyes has ‘credit in the bank’ but should results continue on their downward trajectory it remains to be seen how long that will last.
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Two wins from two in the Europa Conference League group stages will undoubtedly give Moyes food for thought when they host Bruno Lage’s struggling Wolves side at London Stadium on Saturday evening.
In particular, Scamacca and Maxwel Cornet have looked lively, while Craig Dawson and Manuel Lanzini also got on the scoresheet in an entertaining 3-2 win over Danish Superliga side Silkeborg IF.
Despite the positives in European competitions over recent months, the Hammers’ Premier League form has suffered and Moyes’ side already look out of ideas just seven games into the new season.
Their defeat to Chelsea was a particular sore point with VAR, incorrectly, cancelling out a deserved equaliser.
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Bad luck aside, Moyes’ players have so far looked a shadow of the surprise package they were in the Premier League last season and reached the final four of a European competition.
They have been particularly bad at on the road, having lost eight of their last ten Premier League away games, but on the whole their form has been worrying for some time, having recorded just six wins in their last 24 top flight fixtures.
So, what changes do fans want to see Moyes do to fix West Ham’s Premier League form?
Moyes may consider switching from his usual 4-2-3-1 set up to a 4-1-3-2 to accommodate some of West Ham’s exciting summer signings like £51m record signing Lucas Paqueta.
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Starting from the back, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is likely to keep his place after a solid display in that defeat against Everton.
Kurt Zouma has also been solid at the heart of defence, and Craig Dawson could return to make his first Premier League start this season.
As a result, Thilo Kehrer will slot into the right-back role, having played there for Germany in their Nations League draw against England, in the place of out of form Vladimir Coufal. Aaron Cresswell should also keep his place at left-back.
Meanwhile, in front of the defence, 23-year-old Flynn Downes could be given his chance to impress, having yet to feature in the Premier League this season.
Downes impressed in his first start for his boyhood club in the Hammers’ 3-1 win against FCSB and will offer more technical security in build-up phases compared to Tomas Soucek – another player who is struggling for form at West Ham.
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Ahead of Downes, Declan Rice and Brazil playmaker Paqueta should make up the midfield pairing, with the latter thriving in that right-hand side No.8 role at his former club Lyon and under Brazil’s head coach Tite.
Ahead of them, Pablo Fornals is likely to get the chance, ahead of a revitalised Said Benrahma, to play in his traditional No.10 role.
Jarrod Bowen, who has had a disappointing start to the campaign by his own high standards, looks likely to miss out in this new formation.
Moyes could be tempted to bring in Scamacca, with the Italy international providing additional support in a front two alongside Michail Antonio.
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September 30, 2022 at 02:30AM Premier League Table, Fixtures, News, Results, Opinion - talkSPORT https://ift.tt/UDxXTMk
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