It’s no secret that West Ham are completely different side to last season.
The board and Sam Allardyce bought well in the summer and have adopted a new, attractive, successful style play, resulting in a place in the top four after 16 games.
That said, we have seen Allardyce tinker with his formations at times, mostly to accommodate injuries, suspensions and, I suspect, to try and out-tactic our opponents.
So far, Big Sam has used four different formations. We’ve seen the 4-2-3-1 formation on six occasions, while the 4-3-3 and 5-3-2 formations have only been seen once each.
But it’s the 4-1-2-1-2 formation that is clearly Allardyce’s favourite and, without a doubt, the one that suits our players and style of play better than all the rest.
We’ve been so good in the formation so far this season that, quite surprisingly, we’re yet to be beaten in the eight times Allardyce has used it. Those eight games have seen us win eight, draw three, score 16 and concede just seven, proving that when we’ve got a fit squad and are able to use it, we’re pretty unstoppable.
Have a look at the images below, courtesy of WhoScored.com, to see how successful, or unsuccessful, each formation has been for us so far.
Is the the 4-1-2-1-2 formation the one that could boost our chances of getting in to Europe this season?
4-1-2-1-2
4-2-3-1
4-3-3
5-3-2
