By Harry Rawlings
David Moyes – after just a couple of games – appears to be supplying the Hammers with a well balanced and cohesive midfield.It doesn’t need a great stretch of memory to recall the Slaven Bilic approach where Cheik Kouyate was the main victim having played variously at CB, RB, RWB, CDM, CM and CAM. I believe has been that has been the reason for his serious loss of form over the past 18 months.
Meanwhile, Manu Lanzini has often had to play out wide where he is less effective as he always looks to cut back inside which is easy to defend against.
Obiang looks a shadow of himself compared to last year and we are talking here of three extremely talented players who, under the right system, can complement each other very well. Let’s start with Obiang. On Friday night he was the midfield anchor man. He has a great tackle and range of passing although he looks for the miracle ball a bit too often and concedes possession. If Moyes can instil the discipline in him to not venture forward, win tackles and battles and then give the ball simply, we could see the number of goals we concede fall dramatically.
Everyone knows how gifted Lanzini is and it is a joy to see him on the ball. I think he played slightly deeper on Friday, just behind where his normal number 10 position would be and this helps him get on the ball more and help our game to tick.
If he plays a bit deeper he can receive passes from the defence straight to feet and then look up straight away to put the ball out wide to our wingers. Moyes is known for wanting a lot of crosses which makes a proper number 10 less effective as he is not going to be winning any headers. Lanzini can be our deeper playmaker and feed quality balls to the wide players for them to deliver. Playing in a 4-3-3 formation means we only have one striker. If Carroll is playing he is a clear target man but if it is Hernandez then we will need more subtle crosses. Also when Carroll is playing he is usually double marked and teams find ways to shut him out.
This leads me on to our final midfielder – Kouyate. He, like Carroll is also a 6ft4in powerhouse and good in the air. So having him playing in a more advanced role and arriving late in the box will provide another option. He is at his best when making those box to box runs and arriving .
If Moyes continues to play three in midfield, two wingers and one striker then Kouyate can thrive off joining up with the striker when he anticipates crosses coming in, almost like Fellaini did when he was at Everton with Moyes.
He got a goal with his head Friday and could have had another so there are early signs that the tactics are working. I hope Moyes persists with the team selection and tactics because I was encouraged by that draw more than I was by the scrappy wins over Swansea and Huddersfield.
So to recap:
Obiang: midfield enforcer, wins tackles, gives it simple.
Lanzini: deep lying playmaker, heartbeat of the team.
Kouyate: engine room box to box midfielder. COYI
COYI
Couldn’t agree more 😉 consistency is what those players need in the same positions now. I did a hammerschat “your shout” video about Lanzini looking better in a deeper role, he’ll just get on the ball more.
I really liked the lineup against leciester, Carroll needs to score or at least play well soon though. Would love to see Moyes put Arnie in no.10 role behind striker, he’s got the skills, power and pace for it. I’m hoping Masuaku becomes our left winger, that boy will blossom there, and with Antonio bulldozing down the right I reckon we’ve got enough to beat Everton tomorrow!
COYI!
More than enough , justcalmdown . If The team responds and Moyes gets the selection and formation right . The real threat is us , not Everton . And they know it .
Works for me, although I can’t help but wish we could accommodate two strikers; Hernandez and Sakho (who I think could be as potent as that early Valencia/Sakho partnership) with Carroll coming off the bench if we need more aerial threat. At least we’d see more ‘on the deck’ football, and I think linking with the two of them would suit Lanzini, with Arnie left, Antonio right, Kouyate and Obiang centre mid with three (Cresswell, Reid and Fonte) at the back. COYI
Somebody saying good things about certain players at last …. well said , HR .
It’s the team that counts and adds up the points . Give players the right motivation and who knows what can happen . Under Moyes we are at last starting to see some cohesive play with players in Thier correct position . Hopefully we shall climb out and above our present position of being the whipping boys for other clubs to end Thier bad runs . It’s time for us to turn the tables and set a few records straight . It’s time to be the first to “ win “ there , time for us to stop the records of being the soft touch and salvation for others .
Yeah this article could have been written by me Hugh although with less long sentences and spelling mistakes, Lanzini is better in a deep position, when Song was also playing deep that is where he would find Lanzini and it was very effective especially with the Turkish Delight we had playing on the left at the time (I am not referring to Gokhan Tore btw) Lanzini needs to be on the ball a lot for us to be effective and as we are under pressure more often than not that means playing deeper and holding onto the ball just long enough for us to transition from defence to attack. Kouyate is good at arriving late into the box and sometimes also a very good tackler, under Moyes we have a shape and we stick to it better although there is still a long way to go, occaisionally we still look like a primary school football team all getting sucked to the ball but lets give Moyes time he has made a good first impression and hopefully can steer us in the right direction COYI !!!
But you didn’t write it did you and have never attempted to blog so you are unlikely to be criticised by others who like to take a pop at those with more bravery. When you have I may feel differently but it’s this sort of stuff that has, for several days had me wondering whether to close this forum. Come up with an idea, send it and let’s see what YOU can do other than comment on the efforts of others. Incidentally on spelling mistakes this is how you spell “occasionally”
lol Hugh, I was actually saying I agree with you and criticising myself for not being able to write coherently and making spelling mistakes, maybe I should reply in audio next time 😉
I see
2 things
1st I love Masuaku
2nd if Bilic had bought Kane he would’ve played right back.. he could ruin anyone!
The only way to sort out the midfield was to get rid of NOBLE and play everyone in their best position . It has been a problem for 2 years . Noble has been awful but Bilic could not see beyond the loyalty ticket. COYI
I think you should start up a political party Bubbles, your slogan could be just say NO (Noble OUT) 😉
The evidence from the Everton debacle is that Harry Rawlings erudite advocacy of Moyes’ understanding of midfield mastery is, well, misplaced. Sorry Harry. It is ballsy to put yourself out there as Hugh correctly says, and much easier for armchair bloggers – like me – to unpick your point of view. However, in this case, I haven’t had to unpick anything as the midfield performance this evening unravelled before our eyes. Apart from perpetual passing square and behind, the midfield was disjointed, yards behind any attacking move, and thoroughly uninspiring. The Irons midfield made a poor Everton look competent. On the evidence of players performance Harry’s punditry about our midfield seems aspirational at best, and yards offside at worst. But, I am sticking my neck out here in the interest of intelligent and respectful free speech. Whatever way tonites display is picked over, it was one of the most horrible displays of coaching and playing ineptitude involving a Hammers team. In every department we were flawed: poor passing, lack of pace, no midfield mastery, and I couldn’t find a redeeming feature. And whoever coined the saying that lightning doesn’t strike in the same place hadn’t reckoned with the ‘knock knee’d’ Winston Reid who succumbed to yet another of his seemingly innocuous injuries. We are deep in doo doo. COYI.