Player Focus: Payet Absence the Root of West Ham's Offensive Woes
For any team, losing their best player is a blow, regardless of their seasonal goals. For West Ham United that's just what has happened with Dimitri Payet, whose injury looks to have derailed their season. At the beginning of the campaign, the Hammers were in flying form. Talk of a European finish was rife, with Slaven Bilic’s side rightly earning the plaudits for a superb start to the season. However, in the 1-1 draw with Everton last month, the Hammers were dealt a blow when James McCarthy’s reckless challenge saw Payet sustain an ankle problem.
It’s all gone downhill since then. West Ham have failed to win any of their last six league matches, including the aforementioned 1-1 draw with the Toffees. Since being subbed off in the second half of the stalemate, the Hammers have netted just two goals, one of those coming in a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham courtesy of a Kyle Walker error. Nevertheless, without Payet in the side, West Ham lack the spark that made them so entertaining to watch earlier in the campaign.
The Frenchman, arguably one of the signings of the season, quickly endeared himself to supporters following his arrival from Marseille. Despite missing the last five league matches, Payet remains West Ham’s highest rated player with a rating of 7.68, that alone enough to rank him seventh in England’s top tier. His five goals is more than any other West Ham player, while his three assists is level with Aaron Cresswell.
Pertinently, his 47 key passes remains the second best return in England’s top tier, with Arsenal’s creator in chief Mesut Ozil (65) leading the way in that regard, this coming despite Payet sitting out this last five league fixtures, meanwhile the number of goals scored per game has unsurprisingly dropped. In the opening 12 league games of the season, the Hammers averaged 1.92 goals per game, the Frenchman starting all 12. However, in the subsequent five, West Ham have averaged just 0.4 goals per game.
Of course, it’s not just Payet’s absence that has hindered West Ham. Bilic has been unable to call on Manuel Lanzini, Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho through injury in recent weeks, with the trio and Payet all playing a vital role in the club’s sprinting start. Their absences means Bilic has been forced to tinker with his ideal system, which in turn has seen West Ham revert to a previous type.
With Andy Carroll leading the attack, West Ham resembled a team better suited to Sam Allardyce’s approach to management, particularly with the Hammers adopting a long-ball approach. Meanwhile, with Nikica Jelavic spearheading the offensive at Swansea on Sunday, the east London side very much struggled in the final third, registering just 11 shots, none of which were courtesy of the Croatian. The former Hull striker isn’t one who prefers to drop deeper to link up with those behind him and help the attack, noted in that he mustered just 13 passes over the 90 minutes.
Much of that, though, could be down to Jelavic playing with teammates unfamiliar with his style of play and the runs he makes, given Sunday was his first league start of the season. Yet, be it with him or Carroll starting in attack, West Ham lack the attacking fluidity that helped them rise up the Premier League table in the first place. Payet’s injury hit the club harder than many initially imagined it would, especially as Lanzini had also struck up an immediate understanding with his teammates. Credit, also, goes to Moses and Sakho, given their influence.
It’s little surprise, however, that their attacking problems stemmed from Payet’s absence. When West Ham announced his capture, expectation and excitement levels soared and unsurprisingly so. Only Kevin de Bruyne (20), Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas (both 18) registered more assists than Payet (17) in Europe’s top 5 leagues last season. He was tipped to become West Ham’s creative fulcrum in Bilic’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and was just that prior to his ankle injury.
Without him, West Ham lack the offensive swagger that made them so aesthetically pleasing in the opening months of the Premier League campaign. With Moses and Lanzini’s pace then occupying opposition defenders, Payet was handed the opportunity to flex his creative muscles and flex them he did. Now, however, West Ham are a disjointed attacking unit, lacking any sort of fluidity, rendering them a more one-dimensional side in recent weeks, much to the detriment of a team gunning for a return to European action.
The root of the Hammers’ attacking woes stem from Payet’s injury, while Lanzini, Moses and Sakho’s respective absences have indeed been felt. Once the Frenchman makes his return, chances are West Ham’s attacking form will improve, such was his immediate impact in England.
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