AdminLooking back at the midpoint of the summer transfer window, West Ham appeared to be haemorrhaging players, with little optimism surrounding potential arrivals.
Sixteen players eventually left, while concerns increased as the final weeks of the window approached.
There was also a feeling that West Ham had become too predictable. Stop Jarrod Bowen and the Hammers’ attacking threat could be severely limited.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo and technical director Johannes Spors have quietly changed that picture.
Rather than spending heavily on a striker, West Ham have made smart use of their resources, bringing in players such as Joel Piroe and Manor Solomon for relatively modest fees.
The result is an attacking group capable of causing serious problems in the Championship.
Millwall, in particular, face a difficult challenge, with six different West Ham players having found the net in their previous Championship outing. Pablo has also finally opened his account, providing another option in attack.
As Nuno claimed:
“We always look to our forward players to score, to increase [their output], and he [Pablo] gives us more solutions than options..The goal was missing, so it’s going to be a big boost of confidence for him”
Nuno now appears committed to an approach based on outscoring opponents, despite continued defensive mistakes.
With Bowen, Solomon, Taty, Pablo, Piroe and Austbø all offering attacking quality, while Mavropanos remains dangerous from set pieces, West Ham have plenty of firepower to punish Millwall.
Admin
