da cassino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da apostaganha： West Ham host Sheffield United in what looks likely to be a lively affair, but it is also an important match for the Hammers as they look to get back to winning ways.
Key to that will be an improvement in their attack, with Manuel Pellegrini’s side registering just 11 goals in nine games, whilst the Blades have kept the joint-highest amount of clean sheets in the league, with four.
Since West Ham’s creative midfielders have struggled of late, and with Pellegrini stating that Haller needs to do more in the box, the east London outfit may have to rely on attacking contributions from other players in the squad.
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One area which could prove useful is the full-backs, with both Ryan Fredericks and Arthur Masusaku – if he plays – possessing the pace to join the attack, though the former has achieved an average of 0.4 successful dribbles this term, which shows improvement is needed.
The former Fulham man could prove more decisive, however, as he is coming up against a key Sheffield United player in Enda Stevens, who has proved effective since the club made the move up from the Championship.
That is reflected in his stats recorded by WhoScored, but also because of his role in Chris Wilder’s system and his defensive awareness which allows him to cover for Jack O’Connell when the centre-back makes one of his underlapping runs – a key feature of the Blades’ play.
His average tackles per game underline his robustness at the back, though a positive for West Ham is that Fredericks outperforms him in not only that area, but also in terms of the number of times he has been dribbled past, as per WhoScored.
A key reason for that is his physical attributes, and if he can match his intelligence and decision-making to that aspect of his game he could be West Ham’s right-back for years to come.
However, he clearly still has a lot to learn, and if he repeats the mistake he made against Everton, where he failed in his attempt to play Bernard offside for his goal, then his team could be punished on Saturday.
That is a sign of his consistency this season, with a range of WhoScored ratings, going from 7.6 against Crystal Palace to 6.1 in the next match against Everton.
West Ham struggled against similar teams like Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, and therefore could do so again, particularly with Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini not playing well.
Fredericks only has a pass accuracy of 75% this term, too, which shows he is not making the best use of his pace going forward, with just one assist also.
Despite that, if he makes the right decisions in defence and isn’t caught out at the back then he could be crucial to the Hammers keeping a clean sheet, and if they do that then they have a good chance of winning.