West Ham player has been ‘Fornalsed’
Shell-shocked James Ward-Prowse looks to be half the player who joined West Ham this summer. Hooked off at halftime against Burnley alongside Kalvin Phillips, Ward-Prowse was ineffective, but I don’t blame him in the least.
The midfielder spent much of the first half on the left wing, a graveyard shift that has been the ruination of many West Ham players. Pablo Fornals was turned from a creative player into a workmanlike holding winger during his stint on the left.
JWP the winger? Another West Ham player has been ‘Fornalsed’
Said Benrahma was transformed from a tricky, flicking goal-scorer at Brentford into a timid, petrified hybrid winger whose confidence was completely shot by the end of his Hammers career. Fortunately for the players, it’s not terminal, and both have rediscovered their flair and goalscoring touch at Real Betis and Lyon respectively.
So now it’s the turn of James Ward-Prowse to be shoehorned into a position to which he is ill-suited. The tactic seems to be for him to start each game in an attacking midfield role. He doesn’t possess the vision, flair, or goal threat to play there, so invariably the experiment ends quickly.
Phase two of the tactic sees Lucas Paqueta moved infield as David Moyes searches for creativity, and JWP is dumped on the left. Of course, he has neither the speed, crossing, nor dribbling skills to play on the wing and predictably struggles.
James Ward-Prowse is a decent player, but he is a central midfielder who is a set-piece specialist. By constantly being played out of position, West Ham are not only destroying the player’s confidence but also setting up with a poorly balanced team.
It’s not JWP’s fault; he’s just the latest in a line of players to be ‘Fornalsed’.
Sorry but you are not watching the same games as me . Ward Prowse is contributing nothing . A bright start to his time at Hammers has disappeared . We were feared for our set piece goals but that is now history . We haven’t scored from free kicks and he dosen’t take pens …. so he must retain the ball in midfield and play penetrating forward passes ? But no, he passes sideways or backwards and gets caught in possession … Ok then he must track runners and defend corners … No , not that either … Conclusion … He is wearing the shirt under false pretences … We are carrying passengers , WP ,Zouma ( sadly injuries have caught up with him ) and Agueard is just not good enough … Philips better than Fornals … no way … Moyes is tactically naive and our success in Europe is down to desire and hunger from the players and in spite off , not because of , Moyes . In league games he is unable to motivate players in run of the mill games when they are picked out of position and can see goalkeepers and kids ,who Moyes wont pick, on the bench . The situation is dire and we will be decimated in the summer for players fighting to get away .GOODBYE MOYES … ENOUGH IS ENOUGH .
West ham had all be eliminated an old habit from having a narrow pitch, the Back Pass. Moyes has brought it back, it always did and it always will cause problems to the defence. Ward-Prowse is guilty of continually passing a ball back to the one who pass it to him. Seeming devoid of a ideas in defensive midfield, yet alive with ideas in attack. However in his and in Philips and Zouma’s defence. Another problem that has occurred recently Moyes hasn’t dealt has lead to this problem. The Goal Keepers refusing to kick the ball upfield. Meaning that Players have to try to play out of defence and midfield, so naturally they look bad. Fabianski is the worst of the two and leaves defenders and midfield players in the warm and bubbly stuff.
If you take away his start to his West Ham career he has offered not much, for a player that can hit dead balls better than anyone in the world he doesn’t seem to be so great when the ball is moving, he refuses to shoot when in similar positions to his free kicks outside of the box, I have no idea why, like Noble teams know how to move him around so he is ineffective which is why Southampton always suffered, don’t get me wrong he is a great professional but he needs coaching like most of our players who are going backwards under Moyes.
Agree with the above. Take away the set piece assists (which had dried up until the Zouma goal last weekend) and the contribution is minimal. We werent exactly fighting off a lot of competition for his signing. Playing him as a 10 is laughable when he seemingly has no vision or progressive instincts, then he gets shunted to the left to get Paqueta in the middle- find a better solution for the left side in the first place! Infuriating.
You’ve hit the nail on the head! Moyes speciallity is trying to hammer square pegs into round holes. His favourites get picked no matter how bad their form. Time to go!
Great article, Gonzo, and one I entirely agree with. I think, Billy, that we’re all watching the same games and we’re all saying the same thing.
Our midfield requires consistency and balance.
Alvarez in the 6 role, chasing, harrying, intercepting and the odd lung-busting run.
JWP in the 8 role, middle of the field, with confidence to receive the ball on the half turn and look for the ball into the channel.
Paqueta in the 10 role, receiving from JWP and distributing and getting into the box.
Supported on the left by Kudus (or Cornet or, dare I say it, Earthy), and on the right by Bowen, with Antonio (or Mubama, or a new 9) through the middle.
Truth be told, I’m unsure we really need a dedicated old school centre forward. I’d rather we played with a false 9 that interchanges with Kudus and Bowen at will to confuse opposition defences, essentially in a 4-1-2-3 formation! 🙂
Cheers Buddy mate
And, despite everything, we read that David Moyes is being handed a new contract. Are the owners at West Ham out of their minds? Is it David Sullivan who doesn’t see what the majority of the fans see, or is it a majority shareholder brain fart?