Lets Talk Tactics: How Manchester United Could Have Gotten The Better of West Ham United

Manchester United traveled to London on Sunday to face a struggling Hammers side that has only managed to win a single game at home all season. Erik ten Hag’s midweek result (1-1 vs Fenerbahce) was disappointing at best, as many fans were expecting the club's first Europa League win of the season, only to be left bitter-mouthed by the uninspired performance on Thursday.

Erik ten Hag and Julen Lopetegui are both beginning to feel the pressure and unease that tends to accompany inconsistency in the top flight. They were eager to make a statement of intent this season on Sunday. It was the Spaniard who came out on top, piling more pressure on his Dutch counterpart in a controversial 2-1 win. Now, Let’s Talk Tactics, shall we?

Lets Talk Tactics: West Ham 2-1 Manchester United

How Julen Lopetegui set West Ham up

Julien Lopetegui has predominantly opted to play a 4-3-3 so far this season, in a way replicating the system that helped him mastermind an escape from relegation in his first half-season in charge of the Wolves. In their last Premier League outing against Spurs, the Hammers were dismantled by an energetic Spurs side inspired by Heung Min Son. They had only managed a win in five outings and desperately needed a positive result against United to appease fans' worries.

Lopetegui prefers to emphasize possession with his sides, utilizing the 4-3-3 to create as many triangles as possible, particularly out wide. Lopetegui’s systems tend to embody the key, fundamental principles of the ‘Vertical tiki-taka’; consistently looking to progress between the lines and overload the wide areas to create space for the wingers to take on defenders 1v1 or potentially run through on goal. He used a 4-2-3-1 formation on Sunday, with Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez sitting in front of the defence and this packed the midifeld.

In their attacking phases, West Ham look to funnel the ball out wide as much as possible, looking to get a cross in or release one of either Bowen or Kudus through on goal. They make use of the natural forming triangles between the wingers, fullbacks, and the two Eights in the midfield 3, progressing the ball through these triangles and clever movement. Lopetegui prefers his fullbacks high up the pitch in support of the attack, maintaining width while his slightly inverted wingers attack the half-spaces. The midfielders are key in the build-up. They look to release the marauding fullbacks in space or a winger in between the lines who'll carry the ball up the field for West Ham. The side’s 4-1 win over Ipswich was the most they’ve managed to score this season. Although the Hammers have only failed to score once in their eight matches, they haven’t really impressed going forward this season, with their highest goalscorer, Jarrod Bowen, firing in his third goal of the season to give his side all three points. 

West Ham maintain their shape. They sit narrow, preventing the opposition from playing through the middle. Lopetegui likes to play center halves who are comfortable on the ball so they can build out from the back comfortably. His fullbacks are ideally the right mix of athletic and defensively sound, hence the signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer made a lot of sense. The former Red Devils man has started every game for the Hammers since his debut game against reigning champions Manchester City, managing to put in decent performances in each of those appearances. West Ham have only kept a single clean sheet this season, making them one of the worst defensive outfits in the Premier League so far.

Manchester United failed to exploit this, with only Casemiro managing to get on the scoresheet. This is despite Ten Hag's men 18 chances, Alejandro Garnacho hitting the woodwork and Diogo Dalot missing an open goal. The Hammers may feel they have turned a corner defensively as they worked as a more cohesive unit.

Standout performers and dissapointing outings

• The Wide Spaces: Lopetegui’s sides like to attack out wide, utilizing triangles formed by the fullbacks, wingers and the midfield eights to overload the wide areas of the pitch. So far this season, the Hammers wingers have been their standout performers. Kudus and Bowen are statistically two of the best dribblers in the league, and their direct and mazy running unfailingly causes problems for opposition defenses. New West Ham signing Wan-Bissaka has started every game . The English right-back was a standout performer yesterday, impressing up against Garnacho.
• Erik ten Hag puzzlingly decided to start Mazraoui as number 10 in their last match against Mourinho’s Fernabache. Although Dalot has barely put a foot wrong all season, United still seem short of options in the full-back positions. Ten Hag reverted to Dalot and Mazraoui at full-back, and the Portuguese was glaringly poor.

• West Ham vs United Counter Attacks: West Ham have struggled with defending Counter Attacks so far this season. They tend to leave gaps between the midfield and defense, leaving them susceptible to quick, direct counterattacks. Due to the adventurous nature of Lopetegui’s fullbacks, they leave gaps that the Hammers have found challenging to cover whenever they join the attack. Rodriguez hasn’t been of much help either, as the Argentine is often caught out of position or too high up whenever his side is being counter-attacked. Manchester United scored the majority of their goals on the counter. Using him next to Alvarez was the correct decision to ensure the visitors didn't wholly dominate midfield.
• Erik ten Hag’s aggressive pressing system allows United to force turnovers in favorable areas on the pitch, making their biggest threat their ability to hurt sides on the counter. It was unbelievable how the Red Devils failed to score in the first 45 minutes. They paid the price for wastefulness, although an outrageous penalty decision was the difference maker.