West Ham have turned a corner in their last two games, beating Tottenham 2-1 and Sunderland 3-1.
Nuno Espirito Santo has made some tactical tweaks in recent weeks, as he looks to mount a great escape and keep the Hammers in the division.
New signings through the door include Taty Castellanos, Pablo Felipe and Adama Traore on permanent deals, while a loan move for Keiber Lamadrid has also been completed.
In this article, we’ll cover
The Mateus Fernandes effect
The heartbeat of this West Ham team is Mateus Fernandes, signed from Southampton for around £42m this summer.
More commonly used as a number 10 prior to Santo’s arrival, Fernandes has taken up a deeper role more frequently in the past few games, really starting to make things tick.
In build up, Fernandes is often looking to drop between the West Ham centre-backs, utilising his progressive qualities in the first phase to find solutions when building out.
The 21-year-old is no slouch, covering ground and winning duels if possession is lost, which also allows the full-backs to push on, as they have confidence in Fernandes not only on the ball, but also off the ball.
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Winger and full-back connections
The dynamic between the full-backs and wingers have also become key in recent weeks, with the platforming of individuals being emphasised.
In the weeks prior, Jarrod Bowen had often found himself receiving in the right half space, struggling to have the same impact on the game.
However, Santo has tweaked this in the past few games, using Bowen to hold width on the right and utilising Aaron Wan-Bissaka as an inverted full-back to prioritise Bowen’s impact, but also improve protection against transition threat.
On the opposite side, Ollie Scarles will often push up to support Crysencio Summerville, which has unleashed the Dutch winger in the last few weeks, having the freedom to drift both outside and inside.
Summerville has scored in both of West Ham’s last two games, also scoring and assisting in the game prior against QPR in the FA Cup, making it four goal contributions in his last three matches.
4-4-2 out of possession shift
West Ham have been setting up in a variety of off-ball shapes this campaign, playing in a more passive back five, looking to press from a 4-1-4-1 midblock and now looking to adjust to a more fixed 4-4-2 foundation.
Starting from slightly deeper positions in the press, the Hammers wingers are tasked with a hard role, looking to make it difficult for the opposition to isolate full-backs 1v1, while still applying enough pressure on the ball.
Felipe and Castellanos press as the front two, looking to force play to one side of the pitch, as one centre-forward applies pressure to the central defender, while the other shadowmarks the pivot to limit central access.
From goal kicks, West Ham will apply a slightly higher press, with their centre-backs jumping up aggressively and applying man for man pressure to force the opposition team long.
However, Santo wants his side to drop into their 4-4-2 shape quickly if the opposition string multiple passes together and gather sustained possession, looking to protect the middle of the pitch.
New strike partnership
But perhaps the biggest difference for West Ham these past few weeks, has been their new strike partnership, both of whom signed this window and have already had their print on the team.
While Felipe is starting as an attacking midfielder behind Castellanos on paper, the formation often shifts to both players being dual centre-forwards, making counteractive movements to benefit each others game.
Having the added box threat with two centre-forwards has seen West Ham looking to get balls into the box, with both Bowen and Summerville looking to attack the box too, getting all four attackers into dangerous positions.
West Ham have scored five goals in their last two games and this improvement in attacking areas comes at a good time, as they prepare for a tough few months of battle to survive the drop and remain in the Premier League next season.