West Ham United may move to a three at the back formation when all of their first-choice defenders are fit.
That is according to journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the latest news from the London Stadium.
David Moyes’ side have struggled this season, sitting in 18th place in the Premier League having won just one game, and earning four points from a possible 21.
A factor in this could be the side’s unfortunate luck with injuries throughout the season, with £30m summer signing Nayef Aguerd having to undergo surgery on ankle injury suffered in pre-season, meaning he is yet to play for the Irons in a competitive match.
And Jones believes that a three-at-the-back system may be something they trial when the Moyes’ first-choice defenders are fully fit.
He said: “I think it makes sense that with [Vladimír] Coufal and Emerson, they’ll try new things in order to find a spark and decide.
“I’m pretty sure that against Silkeborg in Europe they tried out a back three, it was certainly a bit of a different setup.
“And I think that once all of their first-choice defenders are fit, it might be that they do attempt to go with three at the back.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments
We can see a situation where Moyes moves to a back three, to accommodate Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer, and Kurt Zouma, though the side have only conceded nine goals so far this season, suggesting that their defensive record isn’t as bad as you would believe.
However, we do think that this might blunt the side’s attacking options, with the club’s £51.3m record signing in Lucas Paquetá unlikely to be accommodated in his preferred attacking midfield position in a system with three at the back.
Therefore, whilst we would advocate a change in system in an attempt to turn results around, Moyes needs to find a way where he can get the best out of his attacking players, with his defence already being relatively solid.