David Moyes’ second stint at West Ham ended on a rather flat note. Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the standout performers for the Hammers:
Positives:
Effective Attack: Despite lacking a true striker, West Ham enjoyed a potent attacking force. The combination of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus, and Jarrod Bowen troubled many defenses. They scored over two goals in 21 league matches, outperforming Manchester United in this aspect.
Improved Tactics: Signs emerged of Moyes evolving his tactics. Increased use of possession, deploying Kudus and Bowen as counter-attacking threats, and Emerson Palmieri’s creative involvement were encouraging signs.
Resurgence from Behind: West Ham displayed great resilience, collecting 23 points from losing positions – only three teams fared better.
Negatives:
Inconsistent Home Form: Despite European commitments, the Hammers’ home record against top teams was underwhelming. Only two wins against the top 12 suggest a struggle against elite opposition.
Defensive Frailty: West Ham conceded a significant number of chances and shots, ranking poorly defensively compared to the rest of the league. This exposed a potential over-reliance on Declan Rice’s defensive contributions from the previous season.
Player Fatigue: With a small squad and heavy European involvement, fatigue seemed to set in towards the season’s end. Granting league starts to only 20 players and minimal use of substitutes under Moyes likely contributed to this.
Standout Players:
Jarrod Bowen: West Ham’s top performer. His consistency, versatility, and goal-scoring prowess (16 league goals) were crucial in masking the lack of a proper striker.
Mohammed Kudus: A breakout season. Signed from Ajax, Kudus quickly adapted to the Premier League, contributing 14 goals and assists across all competitions. His performances have attracted interest from top European clubs.
Best Performance:
3-0 Home Win over Wolves: This emphatic victory showcased West Ham’s attacking potential. Paqueta provided three assists, Kudus scored twice, and Bowen finished clinically.
Worst Performance:
Take your pick, Fulham. Palace, and Arsenal were all nightmares.
Overall:
West Ham’s season under Moyes was a mixed bag. While an effective attack and resilience were positives, defensive issues and fatigue exposed vulnerabilities. The upcoming season under Julen Lopetegui will be interesting to see if he can address these weaknesses while building upon the attacking strengths.
Flogging a dead horse, playing same 12/13 players.
All overplayed with no backup on subs bench.
Moyes had no confidence in players available.
Hardly used academy players and only included them to make up numbers.
Must have had weakest sub bench in premier league.
So, Mr Leyland, why do Alvarez & Areola not make your list? They’ve been the reason we kept it sub 100 this season! Both overworked and underrated it would seem.
Yes i agree Sage.
Areola kept us in so many games.He should definitely get more recognition.
A season of boring lacklustre what the hecks going on style of football , probably won’t change , we will just end up with moyesball mark 2 ,
Improved tactics? We consistently had less possession than our opponents, defended deeper than in previous seasons and were far less solid at the back with no trade off in terms of playing anything other than low block. We literally got worse as the season went on.