West Ham officially have the worst attack in the Premier League since Graham Potter took charge at the London Stadium.
That was the damning statistic revealed on Sky Sports Monday Night Football following the Hammers’ 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.
The observation came after analysis showed that West Ham were struggling to break down opposition defences, following a game where Potter’s team managed just two shots on target.
Since succeeding former boss Julen Lopetegui in January, the new Irons manager has drastically improved the defence. Unfortunately, this has come at the cost of attacking output, with the club sitting rock bottom of the charts for shots and shots on target.
While some attacking downturn was expected in exchange for fixing West Ham’s leaky defence, it is still shocking to see the team creating fewer chances than the likes of Southampton, Ipswich, and Leicester.
Certainly, the composition of West Ham’s midfield does not help, nor does the lack of a recognised striker. Nonetheless, Potter hinted at injecting some life into the London Stadium and getting the ‘fans on board’ upon his arrival. However, with his team averaging just 2.6 shots on target per game under his tenure, the new gaffer must improve the attack before next season.
Shots per game since Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui at West Ham
From where I sit opposite the 18 yds there is a check in play which give the opposing defence time to set up and “park the bus”. The one time they looked like scoring they did not stop and stuck missed a good. To much checking back
Ferguson sitting on bench doesn’t help.
Who in academy could be draughted in to help attack?
Guilherme has more speed than most_mid attack/striker.
Goal difference needs to be reduced. Not just by eliminating conceding goals but scoring.
Unfortunately missing Summerville with his pace looks like he’s out for season
Bowen/Paq-man/Kudus all very capable of scoring but need servicing.
A worrisome statistic . Potter’s history with Brighton and Chelsea was to retain possession at all costs and engineer an opening through a packed defense . Westham don’t have the players to do this and so must rely on fast breaks ( like Moyes in his early days with Westham and now Everton ) in order to score goals . If the current dour football continues for the remaining 10 matches of the season the London Stadium will be half empty next season .
It helps if you contrast that with a team that was conceding on average 2 goals per game to be one of the worst defensively too. He has stopped us shipping goals which is a minor miracle in itself especially with Areola in goal who was statistically the worst keeper in the league when he took over.
Every team needs to be built on a solid defence and he is starting to build that platform.
Evolution not revolution COYI
I do like potter and want to give him a good chance. He has stabilised the situation at the other end, but did comment when he was taken on that, I fear we could be back to square one next season because his defensive style. Brighton and Chelsea fans grew to dislike him for that reason. Hopefully he can get some his his own choices in but also understand that most West Ham fans want to be entertained and not have performances like Palace, Brentford and Newcastle which were dross
I don’t know why anyone’s shocked none of his sides have ever been free scoring
There’s “free scoring” and there’s “not scoring at all”. With less than 3 attempts on goal per game it’s hardly surprising we are the latter.