West Ham United have claimed four points from as many fixtures in the Premier League this season, starting off the Julen Lopetegui era somewhat indifferently.
Key facets such as character, resolve, and Jarrod Bowen were prominent as Danny Ings scored a last-gasp equaliser at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon, clinching only his fifth goal from 54 appearances as an Iron.
He was introduced in the 82nd minute, and it’s important to remember that the 32-year-old striker would probably not have featured had Niclas Fullkrug not picked up a calf injury on international duty with Germany.
But should he start the next fixture, a challenging home clash against Chelsea on Saturday? Perhaps not.
What’s going on at number nine
The focal striking area has long presented something of a conundrum for West Ham. From Sebastien Haller to Simeone Zaza, Gianluca Scamacca to… Ings, it’s something that the club has failed to shake, and Fullkrug’s layoff has raised fears once again.
Michail Antonio, West Ham’s record goalscorer in the Premier League, has been an exception, though perhaps he sort of cheated the system by moonlighting as a right-back, way back when. The Jamaica international is 34 now though and surely can’t start for the fifth time in the top flight against Chelsea.
Antonio has not been at the races under Lopetegui’s wing, blanking across every match thus far and yielding some miserable underlying numbers. As per Sofascore, the veteran has yet to hit the target or complete a single key pass, while winning 21% of his ground duels.
Ings scored, let’s chuck him up top, right? Right? Wrong. The three-cap England international, last donning Three Lions garb in 2020, is demonstrably clinical even if he hasn’t really shown as much in east London, but it would be a mistake to deploy him as the line leader against Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.
Instead, Crysencio Summerville should earn his first starting berth as an Iron, but not as the centre-forward…
Time for a tactical tweak
Summerville signed for West Ham this summer, with the 2023/24 Championship MVP pulled away from Leeds United and placed in the capital to help build the attacking success of Lopetegui’s United team.
He’s yet to earn a starting berth in the Premier League, though has featured three times and enjoyed his most productive performance yet against Fulham, replacing the beleaguered Antonio at half-time and bringing newfound electricity and energy to the team.
He faded as the largely uninspiring affair dragged into the later stages, but Summerville clearly has plenty to offer, having once been described as “unstoppable” by Statman Dave.
Crysencio Summerville 23/24 Championship Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats | Per 90 | Percentile |
Goals | 0.39 | Top 5% |
Assists | 0.23 | Top 15% |
Shot-creating actions | 6.10 | Top 1% |
Progressive carries | 5.04 | Top 7% |
Successful take-ons | 2.52 | Top 9% |
Summerville, aged 22, brings youthful avidity and a hunger to impress in the Premier League. The left winger must be unleashed from the outset against Chelsea, especially if Axel Disasi is tasked with sitting as a makeshift right-back again due to Blues injuries.
Having posted 21 goals and ten assists across all competitions last year, the Dutchman can bring a prolific tint to West Ham’s flank, and though he’d have to jockey with Mohammed Kudus for a regular starting berth, the Ghanaian could shift out to the alternate flank in a tweak that would send Bowen to the spearhead.
West Ham Top Scorers 23/24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Apps | Goals |
1. | Jarrod Bowen | 44 | 20 |
2. | Mohammed Kudus | 45 | 14 |
3. | Tomas Soucek | 52 | 10 |
4. | Lucas Paqueta | 53 | 8 |
5. | Michail Antonio | 32 | 7 |
5. | James Ward-Prowse | 51 | 7 |
Why? Bowen is hardly untested at number nine. The Hammers’ top scorer last season, he split his time between his natural right-flanking position and a role at centre-forward, scoring nine goals and adding four assists across 22 total matches as a striker.
He’s also started the current campaign on strong footing, scoring twice and assisting Ings’ parity-restoring strike at the weekend. His dynamic tactical quality and keen-edged footballing mind make him a tricky customer indeed, and this is something that Lopetegui simply has to consider going forward, with Fullkrug sidelined for the immediate future.
Bowen will need support, and Summerville has creative quality in abundance. As per Sofascore, he complemented his direct haul in the second tier last year with 17 big chances created and an average of 2.6 key passes, 2.3 dribbles and 5.8 successful duels per game.
He will need consistency of action though, and a regular starting role in the team to build on his skillset and its integration into the Lopetegui way of things.
Long had West Ham been considered to accept their natural order in the way of things in the Premier League: midtable. But this is wrong, has always been wrong, and the club has enjoyed the opportunity to spread its wings and showcase its skills in recent years, enjoying several campaigns on the continent and actually winning the Conference League in June 2023 – but then that needs no reminder.
In order to prove that they deserve a place back in European competition, West Ham must now build on a solid but unspectacular start and make headway in the divisional rankings.
Should Antonio reprise his role up top, this will become rather difficult; Bowen is tried-and-tested as a makeshift striker and he has a wealth of talent to sit behind him and aid him in his exploits.
After all, Brentford manager Thomas Frank admitted that the England star was “unplayable” after smacking a hat-trick past the Bees earlier in 2024, and now, with Summerville, the Londoners can return to such lofty attacking heights.
