Stuart Pearce lays bare West Ham United woes live on talkSPORT after 2-0 loss v Tottenham
Stuart Pearce believes David Moyes’ biggest cause for concern at West Ham United is the lack of goals they have scored this season which has left them looking “vulnerable” in recent weeks.
The Hammers fell to their 13th defeat from just 23 games in the Premier League on Sunday (19 February) when they lost 2-0 to Spurs, but Pearce told TalkSPORT it wasn’t the goals conceded, but the goals scored column which will prey on Moyes’ mind.
Despite bringing a wealth of attacking personnel in the shape of Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta last summer, the club’s top goalscorer this season remains Jarrod Bowen, with a meagre four goals.
“The biggest problem they’ve got is scoring goals, for some reason,” Pearce told talkSPORT (Monday, 20 February).
“You thought last summer when Paqueta came through the door and Cornet came through the door that they had added goals to the squad, but for whatever reason, that’s not ended up coming to the fore.
“Defensively, they’ve conceded 29. You compare that with Southampton’s 40, Leeds’ 39, Bournemouth’s 44 [goals conceded]. These are teams in and around them who have conceded a vast amount more than them, but it’s just scoring goals that has been a real, real problem.”
On the performance against Spurs, he added: “If you don’t break the deadlock when you’re on top or doing okay, that’s where the problem is, and they’ve looked a little bit vulnerable in the last couple of weeks.
“They’ve got a massive one at the weekend at home to Nottingham Forest.”
Big problems
West Ham United just can’t seem to find the right balance in recent weeks. After moving to a back-five to add further defensive security and free up Emerson and Vladimir Coufal on the flanks, this seems to have come at the cost of the club’s attacking personnel.
Against Spurs, although they were tidy in defence during the first half, they offered little to no threat in the attacking third through Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen.
Another major issue is that January recruit Danny Ings enjoys playing in a front two and not as a sole striker. Considering Moyes plays with a back-five, this is going to be a tough balance to strike unless he alters his whole formation to accommodate Ings.
It seems a waste to have a £15million mid-season signing coming off the bench for a ten-minute cameo every week, and the former Villa player has proven himself to be a potent finisher over his years in the Premier League.
Moyes needs to give Ings a shot at reversing West Ham’s goal drought in the pivotal clash against relegation rivals Nottingham Forest this weekend.