Sky Sports pundit hails ‘great crosser’ Aaron Cresswell in 1st half of West Ham United v Forest
West Ham United’s first away game of the new season saw David Moyes’ side take a trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest.
It was a fast-paced start to proceedings as the hosts played Premier League football on home turf for the first time in more than 20 years.
They. understandably, had the better of the first 10-15 minutes but the Irons soon began to gain control of the game and Aaron Cresswell began to pull strings from left-back.
The 32-year-old picked the ball up in a deep position and looked to exploit the lack of width in Steve Cooper’s side as he targeted right wing-back Neco Williams but he chose to cross instead of pass to Said Benrahma.
“He is a great crosser of the ball but he had two against one up against Neco Williams there,” Hinchcliffe said on Sky Sports Main Event [14 August, 02:20pm]. He should have played it to Benrahma and been in an even more dangerous position.”
Overload
Moyes should have made this abundantly clear to his West Ham players prior to kick-off because it is the best way to expose the Forest back line.
By playing wing-backs without wingers, it gives those out wide an awful lot of work to do and in such extreme heat, they will suffer the more you target them early on.
With two against one likely to be a common overload for the away side, they have to take advantage of it and it is good to see that Cresswell and Benrahma are holding their width whenever they can.
Michail Antonio is a real aerial threat and Gianluca Scamacca even more so if he comes off the bench and that back three won’t be able to clear everything all afternoon long.
But you can’t just needlessly cross the ball and the Hammers have to be wiser in their decision-making to make the most of their strengths.