Another home fixture has gone and the Hammers struggled yet again against a top club.
We’ve lost to Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United at home this season, and we still have Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool still to play. The way the team is playing at the moment I doubt we’ll pick up a single point from those two home games. When was the last time we lost to all these teams at home in the league? I remember at least one scalp a season!
But what has caused West Ham to be the whipping boys in their own back yard?
I firmly believe that Aaron Cresswell is a talented left-back who can deliver a cross to perfection. However, his mistakes and positioning are currently costing the team vital points. It’s bad enough that we’re playing a more attacking minded player at right-back in Cheikhou Kouyate and you can understand his natural ability is to charge against the opposition but, Cresswell is a natural defender and should be tracking back.
If we’re going to play Cresswell left wing back of left midfield then we should play James Collins in a back three with Winston Reid and Jose Fonte.
Now, there is a other thing that really bothers me about Cresswell, and that’s his poor decision making. We can go back to the Hull City away game a couple of seasons ago where his poor throw was given to Mo Diame, who scored in his first game against us, or even is horrific performance against Leicester City at home last season.
His short distribution actually makes the team play uncomfortably, trying to make up yards by a short pass or one that is a few yards too wide for Snodgrass to chase.
What Cresswell is doing now is the same reason why Carl Jenkinson got stick, but yet he doesn’t get the same treatment. The lad needs direction, more confidence and more communication between his team mates.
It can be suggested that his progress in becoming a great left-back was halted due to the injury he picked up in pre-season, which put him in the treatment room for three months.
I feel he needs to work harder between now and the end of the season, otherwise we could see Aaron replaced with Arthur Masuaku and perhaps even shown the door to another Premier League side.
