We’re one game into Graham Potter‘s reign as West Ham head coach and there is already some excitement about what the future might hold.
The first-half against Aston Villa was one of the best halves of football West Ham have played this season. It was ruined by injuries to Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville, but immediately it was clear the players had a better idea of what they were being asked to do.
In time, especially after a couple of transfer windows where he’s able to bring in his own players, there is already a sign that Potter can be a success at the club given the performance on Friday night, just 36 hours after he was confirmed as Julen Lopetegui’s replacement.
But what can we expect tactically? It’s fair to assume the approach against Villa won’t be Potter’s long-term vision for the way in which he wants his West Ham teams to play. With barely any time to prepare for the game, there wasn’t a chance for him to work on a completely new system with the players.
That will take months of coaching before he’ll likely get to a point where he and the players are happy, but there are reasons to be excited if Potter can get it right in east London.
YouTuber and analyst James Allcott explained why in a recent video, where he looked at how Potter might approach this West Ham team tactically with the current players in the squad.
James gives a really detailed view of what he thinks is the most effective system Potter could play and which players are best suited to fit that system.
You can watch that video below…
What is obvious is that we might be about to witness the end of Tomas Soucek at West Ham, as Allcott explains that the Czech just doesn’t fit the profile of midfielder needed to play in a Graham Potter team.
But he did go on to offer a good explanation of why we could yet see a purpose for Guido Rodriguez, who was hugely disappointing under Lopetegui, while he also explains why Lucas Paqueta and Carlos Soler are all but ready-made to succeed under the new boss.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the starting XI is how Allcott sees the deployment of Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Fullkrug.
He explains that Bowen and Kudus could rotate between the right wing and a shadow striker role, but believes Bowen would be more effective in the central position. Many might argue it would be the other way around, given Bowen’s effectiveness from the right and Kudus’ admission that he prefers a role through the middle.
Meanwhile, Fullkrug is described as a ‘match made in heaven’ for a team managed by Potter. The video was recorded before the German international was forced off with what looked like a hamstring injury against Villa, so we’ll likely have to wait a while to see that come to fruition, but in the short period that he was on the pitch at Villa Park certainly heeded a lot of promise.
It’s an interesting video and a very good insight into how Potter could approach the second half of this season, but he will need to recruit one or two attacking players before the end of the January transfer window to help fill the gaps in the team left by injuries to Fullkrug, Bowen and Antonio.