West Ham Football Formation

Starting Lineup

Bowen · Füllkrug · Todibo · Paqueta · Diouf · Wan-Bissaka · Soucek · Kilman · Hermansen · Rodriguez · Ward-Prowse

Versus Chelsea 22-08-25:
- Main issue is weak first-press (Füllkrug & Bowen).
- Also creates open gaps defensively that Chelsea exploit with their build-up.
- In their attack, problem is too many chefs in the center, only 2 wide players as Bowen rarely comes out wide and is also not very effective in this role (striker that is supposed to come wide).
- Simply, the biggest fix is to make your best ball-players more active. The way to do it is to keep these players close to players that run a lot. Thus, putting Bowen wide with Wan-Bissaka behind creates a natural 2-man overload out wide. Same principle with Paqueta on the left with Diouf behind.
- Keep Füllkrug up front as a poacher/target man messing with the unphysical Chelsea CBs; there are free chances to be had through the trickery of an experienced CF.
- Counters are key to actually win the match. A classic PL underdog counter is typically exemplified through wide ball-carriers working together with the physically excellent full-backs exploiting space. The fun action comes from a build-up through the center allowing some space for the wide ball carriers to receive and make plays.

Lessons:
- Be careful when deciding what players START wide and COME centrally, and vice versa. In this game Bowen clearly needed to start wide and honestly didn't even need to ever leave the right side, and was hugely more influential in the 2nd half as a RW/RM. Meanwhile Paqueta stayed centrally, but besides his goal he was actually quite inactive and awkward. I personally believe he'd be much better here as a LM coming in centrally, "false winger" with Diouf taking width, dedicated DM fixed on the left-side of the pitch to cover for Diouf to allow West Ham to defend with 4 against counters upon ball losses.
- Carefully consider your choice of GK, both in terms of transfer and selection. A weak and error-prone GK deflates the morale of the squad, and today made the 1-3 loss a 1-5 one instead. A 1-3 game with the correct changes would've been salvageable.