Koppen Explains The West Ham Problem Austbø Was Signed To Solve

By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)

Nils Koppen has given a fascinating explanation for West Ham’s signing of Edvin Austbø — and it has far less to do with outright pace than I initially thought.

Speaking on West Ham’s Iron Cast podcast, the club’s director of player recruitment explained that the young Norwegian was identified for his ability to create chances against low-block defences. In many respects, that particular quality gets right to the heart of one of the biggest tactical problems facing Nuno Espírito Santo this season.

West Ham have gone from being a relegated Premier League team under a defensive manager, who was quite happy for us to be the low-block side, to being a big fish in a much smaller Championship pond. The football required is completely different.

Austbø was signed for a specific reason

Koppen explained that West Ham’s analysis of Austbø concentrated on what he described as the winger’s “ability to create chances against the lower block”.

Interestingly, he also played down the suggestion that Austbø had simply been recruited because he is lightning quick.

“He’s very quick in the first metres. He’s not like a runner that can run 30, 40 metres and he sprints everybody. He’s quick and sharp.”

But the really interesting part was what came next.

“Us being the dominant team this season, we think he can make the difference in the smaller spaces. He’s very tricky and he can play both sides.”

Suddenly, the thinking behind a signing I’ve been excited about since the moment West Ham made it becomes much clearer.

West Ham needed another way to play

Once Nuno signed Axel Disasi last season and fixed West Ham’s defence, we looked a very different team. That defensive style almost got us to safety in the Premier League.

But you can’t park the bus your way to promotion when everybody else wants to park theirs against you.

We saw the problem perfectly during Charlton Athletic’s smash-and-grab raid at the London Stadium. West Ham had plenty of the ball but struggled for the pace and creativity required to open them up, something which remained a concern at Watford.

It was always imperative that Nuno found different ways to play. Indeed, I’ve previously argued that West Ham simply couldn’t low-block their way through the Championship.

That’s why I found Koppen’s explanation reassuring.

Austbø was identified to fix a specific problem.