West Ham United recorded their first Premier League win of the season on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Pablo Fornals’ second half strike gave David Moyes’ side not only their first league win of the season, but also their first goal, with Fornals’ shot deflecting off Ezri Konsa and ballooning over Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez before going in.
The win for the Irons moved them off the bottom of the Premier League table and out of the relegation zone, heading into a week that sees them have back-to-back London derbies against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. As West Ham picked up consecutive wins for the first time this season in all competitions, here are the talking points from a largely poor afternoon of football at Villa Park.
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A job done
West Ham’s performance was certainly not at the level they would want it to be at, but they got the job done, something they had not managed to do in any of their opening three league games of the season.
Villa completely outplayed Moyes’ side before half-time, but a combination of good Hammers defending and a lack of attacking quality from the hosts kept the Hammers in the game at the interval, where the tie turned in favour of the Hammers.
There was a major formation change at the break that really changed the game towards ending in a West Ham victory and although it took a slice of luck when Fornals’ shot went in via a massive deflection, the way Moyes’ side hung on in adversity showed that they were never out of a game where they hardly got a kick until changing shape.
What the result means is simply points on the board, relief, and a boost of confidence going into Wednesday night’s derby with Tottenham before heading to Chelsea less than 72 hours later.
In certain games, performances and the quality of them are insignificant and it is all about getting results and three points. Moyes highlighted that fact in his post-match press conference, citing that a first league win of the season was just what was needed above anything else.
David Moyes’ tactical gamble revoked
For weeks, Moyes has made subtle hints that he would switch to a three/five at the back formation, whether it be subtle comments about who could play as a wing-back, or which players would suit a centre-back trio. Against Villa, he opted to go for it from the start.
With Ben Johnson and Emerson starting as wing-backs either side of Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell in the heart of the Hammers’ defence, West Ham started with a 5-2-1-2 shape of sorts, with Pablo Fornals occupying an attacking midfield role behind a front two of Gianluca Scamacca and Jarrod Bowen.
Moyes thought and hoped it would cause Villa problems, but instead, it gave them license to roam and control, with the hosts having just shy of 60 per cent of the ball before the break.
With West Ham lacking rhythm and fluidity in the opening half, and Johnson forced off injured, Emerson, on his debut, was substituted off at the break in place of Said Benrahma and the 4-2-3-1 returned, with Vladimir Coufal and Cresswell as full-backs, Fornals moving to the left and Algerian Benrahma occupying the No.10 role.
Within minutes of Benrahma’s introduction, both in terms of structure and intent, West Ham came out like a completely changed side in the second half, with confidence from the Algerian seeming to give everyone on his side a lift.
Moyes, by his own admission, said at full-time that he had to change something at the break, given how his side had struggled in the first half, and it was a reversion back to his trusty shape that got the best out of his players and ultimately, sealed victory.
The back three/five is likely to be wheeled out again at some point, but Moyes deserves credit for being quick to act when knowing his pre-match tactics were getting little joy and that his side were able to turn such a negative first half performance into a more pleasing second half display.
Emerson’s debut
Signing last week for £13million from Chelsea, Italian international Emerson made his debut at left wing-back, a first taste of life in a West Ham shirt.
Emerson, signed to compete against Cresswell for minutes, found himself lining up next to the club’s vice-captain on debut, with Cresswell playing inside as a centre-back and Emerson starting at wing-back.
He struggled to really impact the game before the break, albeit not solely his fault as he was often forced to defend, but found himself as the man sacrificed by Moyes at the break to allow them to go to a 4-2-3-1 system.
After the game, Moyes said that he did not think Emerson had a bad debut, he just felt that his side was unable to get the ball to him much, leading to the decision to bring him off and go back to Moyes’ known shape.
With upcoming opponents Tottenham and Chelsea both being known to use wing-backs in recent history, Emerson may be used and a return to the formation could be used this week, but given he can play wing-back, full-back and sometimes had the odd occasion playing even higher up at Chelsea, his versatility is a massive option for the club.
A new partnership forming
West Ham’s two best players in the West Midlands both played at the back and could be showing the start of a brewing partnership in the centre of defence.
Kehrer and Zouma both played together in the centre of a three-man defensive set-up in the first half but then went back to just them two of them in the second half.
Zouma comfortably was the best player on the pitch. He made 11 clearances, only two fewer than the whole Villa side. He also won three aerial duels and was not dribbled past in what was a performance West Ham fans have been waiting to see from their star centre-back this term.
Next to him was £10.1m arrival Kehrer who after a mixed first half, really kicked on after the break and like colleague Zouma, made him a tough nut to crack. Positionally, he was excellent, and the composure he showed on the ball, as well as his awareness, showed exactly why featured so often last season for a Paris Saint-Germain side who won the Ligue 1 title.
With Nayef Aguerd still sidelined, Angelo Ogbonna slowly working towards full fitness and Craig Dawson awaiting a return from a quad injury, Kehrer and Zouma are all that Moyes has at present, but if they play like they did at Villa on a consistent basis, there are plenty of reasons for West Ham fans to be pleased defensively.
The Said Benrahma dilemma
The game hinged on the half-time substitution that saw Benrahma replace Emerson at the break, with West Ham seemingly flicking a switch on their performance after he came on.
Whether it was Benrahma’s performance itself, the change back to 4-2-3-1 or a combination of the two, the Algerian was quick to make an impact and bought a directness about his play that seemed to rub off on Bowen, Fornals and a number of other players in the team.
Moyes said after the game that while Benrahma has had a good start to the season, he has also had a very mixed start to the season, an honest, but fair assessment. He was good at Nottingham Forest on his first start of the season but really poor against Brighton and Hove Albion a week later and had a mixed bag against Villa.
While he dribbled and provided some influential and needing attacking flair with trickery and directness, a couple of times he did not move an inch when he should have made two runs, one on the end of a Fornals pass down the left side following a good team move, and another when he should have intercepted a pass that could not have been much closer to him for him to at least try and chase down.
After the win, Moyes said: “I think he has had a good start to the season, but he has also had a mixed start to the season. He played against Brighton where we didn't see quite as much. Today, we saw it, we had seen it in bits against Nottingham Forest, but we know what we have got with Said. Sometimes, he can frustrate you, sometimes, he can make the difference. I thought today, he made a big difference for us when he came on.”
He could and maybe should have had a goal on the end of a West Ham counter attack when coming on, not doing so through no fault of his own.Unfortunately, Bowen took too long to decide whether to square it or shoot at the end of an excellent West Ham move. Had Bowen done so, Benrahma could have had a favourable tap in to make it 1-0.
If he can start to show some level of consistency, at his best, he is capable of being a guaranteed starter. His showing against Villa will undoubtedly have gone in Moyes’ good books, but he needs to back that up regularly, both for the benefit of himself, Moyes and West Ham.
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