A formation tweak has given the Hammers new vitality and renewed optimism.
The roar remained consistent at the final whistle of Sunday’s match against Aston Villa. This time, however, all criticism was directed at referee Jarred Gillett and his VAR colleagues, the twin thorns who deprived the Hammers of the feel-good rush of a second critical victory in four days by rightly, but laboriously, chalking off a would-be winner from Tomas Soucek in stoppage time.
Still, with a comeback 2-2 draw against Burnley, a 5-0 thumping of Freiburg, and now the relative hard-luck narrative of a 1-1 draw with a powerful Villa team, a season that appeared to be fading has been rejuvenated as it enters its final pause.
The turnaround was spurred by a tactical tweak, born of necessity when down at halftime against the division’s lowest side, but it has since made a compelling argument to become the pattern for the final stretch.
Moyes, who had been stuck in a 4-3-3 configuration for the majority of the season, has switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, allowing him to include a focal point at centre-forward in Michail Antonio, as well as the potent trio of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, and Mohammed Kudus, who had previously played as a front-three.
Moyes watched his side score eight times without reply between making the first change at half-time against Burnley and replacing Antonio with Ben Johnson in an attempt to win against Villa on Sunday.
Above the numbers, however, there has been a noticeable shift in energy, which may vindicate Hammers fans who have consistently expressed dissatisfaction with Moyes’ style of game, even when it has yielded fantastic wins.
When West Ham loses possession, they no longer withdraw halfway or rely on Antonio’s honourable but often ill-judged lone pursuit. They’ve learnt to hunt in packs, crowding together and then committing men to the attack when ownership is stolen.
The initial goal came at the culmination of a sustained period of pressure, with Paqueta getting the ball back in Villa territory at the start of the play that eventually saw Vladimir Coufal find himself wide, with four men in the box to aim at and two more on the perimeter waiting for cut-backs. In the end, he chose Antonio, who dived to score his first goal since August.
Nicolo Zaniolo’s equaliser from the bench was the second-half highlight, at least until the longest VAR check in Premier League history resulted in stoppage-time drama. In the near term, however, Edson Alvarez’s late yellow card may cause Moyes the most stress when it comes to replicating his first-half performance.
The summer signing’s tenth booking of the season means he will miss games against Newcastle and Tottenham when the League season resumes, and he is already suspended for the first leg of the European quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Much has been made of West Ham’s dismal record without Paqueta, but the statistics for Alvarez are equally bleak: since making his full debut in August, the midfielder has started all but four league matches, and the Hammers have not won any of those in which he has been benched or out.
Moyes has choices, but neither Kalvin Phillips nor James Ward-Prowse appears capable of matching Alvarez’s athleticism, and a midfield-two without him appears vulnerable.
Before that, Moyes must hope the international break isn’t too onerous, since Bowen, Antonio, and Kudus have all returned from service with injuries this season. Paqueta has not completely recovered from his calf injuries, but he is back in the Brazil team for the first time this season.