West Ham’s attack is beginning to take on a menacing look, but it was last season’s stars who stole the show against Celta Vigo.
Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paquetá, and Mohammed Kudus all performed exceptionally well last season under David Moyes, so it was no surprise to see them click immediately under Julen Lopetegui.
However, the shape and attacking positions taken up by the team suggest that even more menace may be in store for opposition defenders.
Paquetá seemed to have more freedom to express himself, appearing less burdened by defensive duties as West Ham enjoyed decent possession. Michail Antonio, often isolated in the past, was well-supported and played a crucial role in Paquetá’s wonder goal.
Paqueta dinks the ball over the Celta Vigo defence
Jarrod Bowen looked better than ever, and Lopetegui’s system will undoubtedly relieve him of much of the touchline defending he did so well under Moyes. Bowen appeared to get central more frequently, and I suspect he’ll surpass last season’s goal tally.
Kudus was perhaps the one player who had to sacrifice his game slightly. His starting position limited his ability to strike with his left foot, resulting in more crosses. However, I don’t think he’ll stay on the left side all the time, and once he adjusts to the system and exploits the license to roam, he’ll be a real handful.
With Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo delivering long passes, the opposition will need to be wary of leaving too much space behind them, which will, in turn, bring Paquetá into play against a retreating backline.
We’ve only seen fleeting glimpses so far, but it truly is a mouth-watering prospect, and I can’t wait for the start of the season.
All wonderfully postive until we make first contact in a premier league game and teams start scoring against us, the dawning realisation that defence starts from the front and Moyes was right after all; although he was incapable of doing it unless all men were behind the ball at all times and catch the one or two breaks per game.
I bet you’re a laugh at parties.
Don’t think he gets out much
🤣🤣🤣 was thinking the same thing!
Let’s be positive and see how it pans out!
Haven’t felt this excited to start the season in a long while!
What the hell are you on about Graham, have you forgotten that we conceded 74 goals last season?
Clearly you are a moyes fan, and will be one of the first to moan if we lose a close high scoring game, which no doubt we will as we get used to how to play the new system.
I can’t wait for the season to begin, and a new era of free flowing attacking football
Rather lose a close high scoring game than all the 5 nils we had last season.
All well and good scoring goals but we can’t be conceding goals at the rate of 2-3 per game. All good teams have sound defences, with JC, Kilman and AWB in that improves us just need a LB and another CB for cover and Duran..
I have much more optimism than my namesake, albeit tinged with an expectation that the team will need time to gel with the new faces and approach. We may have to wait a few games but we should be optimistic about having a very good season with much more entertainment than we have seen recently.
This team will need time to get used to the tactics and each other but the business we have done so far this window has been amazing. There are a few players in there from moyes that won’t suit the new style of play but all in good time things will start to look bright