The squad led by David Moyes had an incredible poor season finishing in fourteenth place in the Premier League. Despite this, the Conference League win allows West Ham direct entry to the Europa League Group Stage. With a good squad, West Ham has a few players with top of the class performances in their respective positions. To understand their individual impact to the team, we present the average ratings of the players in a Back 4 and in a Back 5 since the team used both types of defense. In addition, this players must meet the necessary minutes requirement to be considered (minimum 450 minutes played in the season in a type of predefined defense: Back 4 or Back 5).
West Ham’s eleven with the most minutes played this season.
West Ham’s players in a Back 5 Defense – Premier League (Minimum 450 minutes played in this competition).
Star Player:
- D. Rice (M) – 7.18 & 7.93
With the highest average rating in this squad, West Hams’s M- Rice – was one of the main reasons for the positive results archived this season. West Ham’s dynamics require Rice to function properly because of his enormous consistency in the defensive end in addition to the relevent presence in intermediate (building) process.
Other Key Players:
- L. Paquetá (M) – 8.13
- J. Bowen (W) – 6.33 & 7.04
With only a few players having above average seasons, we need emphasise the average rating obtained by Paquetá in his first season as a Hammer.
Additional information regarding the team (Premier League).
With more positive results at home than away (8 Home Wins & 3 Away Wins), it is possible to consider West Ham a much stronger team at home than away. Besides that, the negative goal difference highlights the poor ability to score goals (1,11 goals per game) with a not so good defensive steup (1,45 goals per game).
West Ham’s eleven and subs with the most minutes played in the Conference League (Minimum 270 minutes played in this competition).
With the opportunity to go far in this competition, West Ham managed to play good football in Europe. M. Antonio had incredible performances during this competition allowing them to reach the final and win the 2022-2023 Conference League. In addition to that, D. Rice was also a key piece for the results achieved in this European Competition.
West Ham’s players in a Back 5 Defense – Conference League (Minimum 270 minutes played in this competition).
In the 2022-2023 Season, West Ham used the Back 5 only a few times. Nevertheless, some of their players had more than 270 minutes in this type of defense (in the Conference League). The obvious distinctions from these matches goes to M. Lanzini and Ben Jonhson, players that obtained average ratings in the range of only the best players in the competition
Positions most in need of strengthening:
- CB & W
With ratings below the 6 mark, West Ham’s Centre-Backs (CBs) were the only positions that failed to archive good performing ratings. To reach the European Competiton throught the league, West Ham needs to strengthen, primarly, the CB position. In terms of the wingers (Ws), West Ham clearly lack the squad rotation to even compete for a good position in the league table. Right now, West Ham need to sign wingers to compete for the starting spot.
Meaning of the used abbreviations:
- G – Games
- W – Wins
- D – Draws
- L – Loses
- P – Points
- GS – Goals Scored
- GA – Goals Against
- GD – Goal Diference
- HW – Home Wins
- AW – Away Wins
Data from FBref.