Despite Brighton's high-flying start to the season, I worried about what would happen when faced with a truly great counter-attacking side, given the space out wide in their shape. Well, in came West Ham United, one of the best counter-attacking teams in the world. Here is Game of Numbers #26, starting with how West Ham perfectly exploited Brighton's greatest weakness.
It might be desperately close to the start of the season, but West Ham United have finally signed their Declan Rice replacement at the base of their midfield. In my in-depth analysis of who the Hammers should sign, I ranked Álvarez second to Florentino Luís, as an absolute must-sign. For the fee they accumulated for Rice, I made the claim that they should sign both players, especially given the Mexican's exceptional awareness on the defensive end, whilst complimenting much of Rice's on-the-ball dominance. Here is why West Ham United made the right call in signing Álvarez, and why the £33 million signing should be a steal.
The task of replacing Declan Rice is a near impossible task. While you could likely combine his traits in a trio of midfielders for that price, no one that West Ham United could convince to join the club will be able to make such a massive single-handed impact at the London Stadium. Nevertheless, we scoured through the data and footage of hundreds of players to find those most similar to Declan Rice, and those that could make up for some of what's now lost without his services. With that, here is our analysis on how West Ham United can replace Declan Rice.
Within the last two years at the London Stadium, Moyes has overseen the rise and development of Declan Rice into one of the best midfielders on the planet; not to mention an excellent recruitment scheme that has brought in the likes of Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal and last season's loan signing of Jesse Lingard. Throughout that time, he's also inspired improvements in versatility, style of play and attacking output in the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, and Michail Antonio, within an intense style of football that works to combat even the toughest teams in the league. So ahead of a charge towards this season's UEFA Europa League final, we take a look at David Moyes' tactics this season. Here is our latest in all things West Ham and David Moyes.
The 2021 January Transfer Window continues to heat up, with more and more clubs splashing the cash to resolve their issues before the end of the season. And with that, we’re continuing to take a look at clubs with a bit of a blackhole in their team, that desperately needs to be covered before the end of next summer. We’re going to match that blackhole up with one player who could potentially fill that void if a move were to be made in January, by assessing and analyzing a player that is a perfect match for the team’s style of play. While today's player would be perfect for virtually any European elite, from Chelsea to Manchester City to Bayern Munich, this man had to top our list of defensive midfielders for Manchester United. Today, it's all about West Ham United's Declan Rice, and why he’d be a perfect fit for Ralf Rangnick's Red Devils.
The 2021 January Transfer Window is officially open! And with that, we’re going to be taking a look at clubs with a bit of a blackhole in their team, that desperately needs to be covered before the end of next summer. We’re going to match that blackhole up with one player who could potentially fill that void if a move were to be made in January, by assessing and analyzing a player that is a perfect match for the team’s style of play. Today, it’s all about Liverpool's Nat Phillips, and why he’d be a perfect fit for West Ham United.
Following a fantastic 2020-21 campaign, few expected West Ham's form to carry over into the 2021-22 campaign to the same extraordinary extent. But David Moyes' men have gone from strength to strength this season, playing some of their best football in decades. The Hammers are now all the way up into third place, ahead of Liverpool, after a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Reds this weekend. Here is our analysis of the match!
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