It is still only October, and it already feels as if the wheels have come off at West Ham United.
The East Londoners are currently in the relegation zone and only being kept off the bottom of the table by an even worse Wolverhampton Wanderers side.
Worse yet, any of the positivity that came from the draw away to Everton in Nuno Espírito Santo’s first game has all but vanished thanks to three consecutive defeats.
Therefore, if the Portuguese coach is to save the Hammer’s Premier League status this season, he needs to make some changes to the team as soon as possible, such as dropping someone who looks miles off the pace.
Changes that Nuno has to make to West Ham
Given the dire situation West Ham currently find themselves in, Nuno has to make some dramatic changes to the team for the next game, and that starts at the back.
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Both Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman must come out of the team, as even though the other options are less than ideal, they have a chance of being better than the Frenchman and Englishman, who have been diabolical for a few games now.
Then, with Ollie Scarles recovering from his dislocated shoulder, the manager should move Kyle Walker-Peters to that right wing-back role if he insists on keeping the shape he used against Leeds on the weekend.
Moreover, while he’s been a brilliant servant to the club, Tomáš Souček now offers little to nothing when he starts, and therefore, he should be dropped to the bench for the far more dynamic and promising Soungoutou Magassa.
Moving on to the attack, and the experiment of player Lucas Paqueta up top has to come to an end.
Minutes
94′
Expected Goals
0.09
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.10
Assists
0
Shots on Target
1
Touches
83
Crosses (Accurate)
4 (0)
Accurate Passes
45/62 (73%)
Yes, Callum Wilson is not of the standard either, but by playing the team’s most creative player as a false nine, the chance creation from deep is practically non-existent.
Ideally, Nuno should revert to a four at the back system and play the Brazilian in attacking midfield.
Last but not least, another change should be made in the middle of the park: the removal of a player who is miles off being the standard required to play for West Ham.
The West Ham ace who must be dropped
He isn’t the number one problem at West Ham this season, but it has become increasingly clear that Andrew Irving is nowhere near good enough to play for the club and should therefore be dropped.
It might sound harsh, but it’s an opinion shared by journalist Jordan Rushworth, who described the Scotsman as a “National League standard” midfielder, adding that he “gets walked past every time an opposition midfielder has the ball.”
Unfortunately for the Edinburgh-born ace, his statistics from the game at Elland Road only back up such a brutal assessment.
Minutes
64′
Expected Assists
0.01
Key Passes
0
Shots
0
Crosses (Accurate)
1 (0)
Touches
48
Lost Possession
7
Duels (Won)
5 (1)
Dribbled Past
1
For example, in his 64 minutes of inaction, he amassed an expected assists figure of just 0.01, failed to make a single key pass, didn’t take any shots, misplaced 100% of his crosses, took 48 touches, lost the ball seven times, lost four of five duels and was dribbled past once.
It’s not just his technical weaknesses that are a problem for the Irons, though, but also his complete lack of any real physicality.
He’s not strong enough on or off the ball and lacks any real athleticism or explosiveness, which in the modern Premier League is a massive problem, and one highlighted by Jamie Carragher after the Brentford loss, when he described the Hammers as “one of the slowest teams I’ve seen in Premier League history!”
Therefore, regardless of the formation he wants to play, Nuno simply has to take Irving out of the starting lineup from now on, especially when he has better options to choose from.
For example, while he can still be a little rash, respected analyst Ben Mattinson has described Magassa as someone blessed with “pure athleticism.”
Moreover, he’s still relatively inexperienced at this level, but Freddie Potts can get around the pitch far easier than the Scotsman, and as Mattinson says, is blessed with an impressive “passing range and powerful carrying” ability.
Ultimately, while there are plenty of changes that need to happen at West Ham, one of the big ones is the removal of Iriving in favour of a far more dynamic and promising alternative.