West Ham played a true game of two halves in Scott Parker‘s debut with each one showing bad and good things they have seen under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Of course, nobody expected a huge change overnight. In fact, the Hammers announced their former midfielder as new manager just hours before taking on Cardiff City in Wales.
Parker was brave enough to take charge right away rather than watching from the stands. Fans weren’t too sure of the appointment both due to ressentment from his playing days, in which many claim he ‘jumped ship’ to Tottenham Hotspur at the first opportunity in 2011, but also because of his play style and managerial record in the Premier League.
But he is more than proven at Championship level, which is the board’s hope of making it back to the top flight. The 46-year-old has won three promotions from the second tier with three different clubs: Fulham in 2020, Bournemouth in 2022 and Burnley in 2025.
How was West Ham’s first game under Scott Parker from a tactical point of view?
Initial fingerprints
West Ham lined up in a 4-2-3-1 in their first game under Scott Parker, as opposed to Nuno Espirito Santo’s preferred 4-4-2.
He went away from the two-striker set and had Taty Castellanos leading the line with Divine Mukasa in the Number 10 spot. Arne Engels formed a double-pivot alongside Soungoutou Magassa, who played his very first Championship game of the season.
The Englishman also decided to play two centre-backs as full-backs. Morato had already been playing at left-back as Nuno’s right-hand man, of sorts, from their days at Nottingham Forest. But Joel Veltman started at right-back as well, replacing the injured Kyle Walker-Peters.
Nuno had always prioritised an attacking balance with Walker-Peters having more freedom down the right while Morato held things down in the left. This was only the third time all season that both Morato and Veltman started games as full-backs together.
With Cardiff being a possession-heavy side, it made sense for Parker to go with a more defensively solid lineup. The Bluebirds went into GW14 ranking first in possession, even ahead of the likes of Middlesbrough and Swansea City. Not to mention the presence of a true, defensive-minded holding midfielder in Magassa.
Space in defence
However, Parker’s pragmatic changes to the starting lineup didn’t exactly turn West Ham into a defensive force – on the contrary. Their defensive shape remained a 4-4-2, the difference being Mukasa was now alongside Castellanos up front rather than in the double pivot with Engels.
It turned out not to be enough, as Cardiff had no issues breaking them down and accessing central areas. They managed to cut through the Hammers way too easily. Just like West Bromwich Albion and Southampton did in their previous two games – both losses that fuelled the board’s decision to sack Nuno.
Brian Barry-Murphy used his midfield trio to create numerical advantages over West Ham’s double pivot. In fact, that’s exactly how they got their first goal. All credit to Jack Moylan who is one of the most in-form players in the Championship right now and hit an absolute stunning long-range strike. But it wasn’t just a random wondergoal.
Magassa was busy with Rubin Colwill while Engels tried to sit zonally in the middle balancing duties to protect the defence and keep track of Moylan. In the end, Alex Robertson managed to find Moylan for the opener.
Another old issue is how easy opponents find to get runners ahead of West Ham’s full-backs. The Hammers may have gotten a tough whistle on Morato’s penalty, but the lead-up to it started with Moylan running behind him.
Jarrod Bowen magic
West Ham may have showed the very low lows from their time under Nuno, but also gave fans bits of their very high highs.
They have now scored 3+ goals in six different games, a tally bettered only by Norwich City in the current Championship season. It was also their fifth match with 5+ big chances, the highest number in the division (alongside Middlesbrough). They had six against Cardiff – all in the second half.
And a whopping five of them had Jarrod Bowen involved somehow. He created the first with a beautiful long pass that broke Cardiff’s defensive line and left Mukasa through on goal to pull one back.
It was another Bowen long pass that led to the second goal as well. This time, Joel Piroe received it and just flicked the ball with his head for Engels to put it past Nathan Trott. The Hammers captain then missed one of his own with the Bluebirds shot-stopper keeping it out from close range.
Bowen then decided it was time to showcase his crossing talent, whipping a beautiful ball into the box that was met by Max Kilman who made it 3-3. Tomas Soucek could have won it for West Ham in stoppage time, again from a Bowen cross, but didn’t connect properly.
Relying on Bowen was a common theme throughout Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenure at London Stadium. After all, the 29-year-old does lead the Championship in goal contributions (14) and assists (7). He’s also the only one with 5+ goals and assists (seven each).
Chances are, over time, Scott Parker will make the Hammers more solid defensively, fixing their issues in midfield that allows opponents so many chances.
This approach may take a toll on the other end of the pitch, though. And having Bowen at the level he showed against Cardiff will be key to carry the attacking load going forward.