West Ham United almost master counter-attacking as European top 5 league stat emerges

West Ham have impressed under David Moyes this season, with the club sitting seventh in the Premier League table after six matches.

The East London club have won three of those, drawing once and losing twice, with 11 goals scored and 10 conceded so far.

And it has become evident exactly how Moyes has operated this season as the matches have gone on, with a counter-attacking approach clearly the objective.

Usually coming with the territory of such an approach is a lack of possession, with soaking up pressure and catching teams on the break the whole idea.

The latest figures from WhoScored (28 September) confirm Moyes’s game plan, with only Serie A side Genoa (34.8%) averaging a lower possession percentage than West Ham (35.5%) in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

The fact that only Genoa have a lower figure than West Ham does not suggest that the latter have almost mastered the art of counter-attacking.

It is more so the fact that, had the East London outfit really perfected it, they would not have lost against both Liverpool and Manchester City, even if they are two of the best clubs in European football at this moment in time.

Before those two games, the Hammers were flying high, having defeated both Brighton and Chelsea 3-1 using their counter-attacking approach.

As well as going strong in the Premier League, the men in claret and blue are into the Round of 16 in the League Cup and have won the opening match of their Europa League group stage campaign.

In other West Ham news, a Premier League journalist has slammed Moyes and has mooted a “worrying pattern” for the club.