Moyes upset the fans with three defensive midfielders. Bournemouth still dominated against West Ham

Bournemouth went up in performance at the end of 2023 and it wasn’t expected to be easy for West Ham. A 1-1 draw in the final is acceptable for both teams. But only in terms of the result for the Hammers. A very poor performance at home.

Chaotic passing, strange formation and a big gap between midfield and attack. David Moyes, who has long relied on the performance of the team as a whole, put together something that didn’t suit his style at all on Thursday. That is, in the number of defensive players he had on the pitch, seven of them.

A strange experiment in midfield

“We need more defensive midfielders, at least 35. Four is crazy, it’s not enough,” ironically reacted to Moyes’ tactics with a defensive midfield in a liked comment under an instagram post by West Ham fortunes.

Not to blame the Scottish coach, he fielded three defensive midfielders – Tomas Soucek, Kalvin Phillips and Edson Alvarez. This has poured gasoline on the fire as Bournemouth are pressing high. All three have had problems with their passing, they are not downright technical players.

Sending Manchester City’s Phillips straight into the starting line-up was all the more surprising given that Moyes is a controversial coach. Moreover, when the trio of Alvarez, Soucek, James Ward-Prowse played together in the middle, West Ham have been clicking since the start of the season. More freedom was then given to Soucek, which was linked to productivity.

“So it was frustrating. The midfield looked absolutely insane. We didn’t create enough chances and we lost balls easily,” alluded fan Grace to the incomprehensible relegation of Ward-Prowse to the edge of midfield. There, he was lacklustre and had no room for his box-to-box work.

West Ham had inadvertently kept the squad

Aside from the Bournemouth game, West Ham are in the spotlight because of two unfinished departures. The transfer market is closing in Europe. Lyon had already agreed a deal to take Saido Benrahma on loan. But the transfer failed to be administratively completed due to a Hammers error.

West Ham failed to send a contract to FIFA in time, and the same happened in the case of Pablo Fornals, who was pursued by Betis Sevilla. Both Lyon and Betis have sent appeals to FIFA, hoping that an exemption will be granted and the Hammers players will come to them.

Source: Instagram