Three things David Moyes has done to revitalise West Ham this season

One of the relatively unheralded stories of this season in the Premier League has been the quiet resurgence of West Ham United. At the time of writing, West Ham were in 10th place in the table, just six points off a place in the top four. While this is a reflection of how tight this season has been, with just 10 points separating 1st place from 10th, after Manchester Uniteds win over Burnley, it also reflects just how good a job David Moyes has done at the London Stadium. Perhaps more relevant for West Ham fans is the fact that they are 12 points clear of the relegation zone, and have looked completely transformed from the side which narrowly avoided relegation last season. Moyes had been parachuted back at West Ham, for his second spell at the club, in December 2019 following Manuel Pellegrinis dismissal, with a remit to keep the club in the Premier League. He managed to achieve that, and now, with over a year in charge, he has managed to stamp his identity on the side, having made the Hammers tough to beat but also clinical on the counter-attack, and has also made a number of players much better.

In this piece, we will look at the improvements and changes that Moyes has made this season, in terms of tactics, shape and personnel, that have allowed West Ham to climb up the table.

Statistical overview

Before getting into some of the tactical changes, it is important to consider West Ham from a statistical perspective. We have taken a number of stats and metrics from Wyscout to understand West Hams approach this season, both in isolation and when compared to the rest of the Premier League.

At the moment, West Ham are in 10th place, with 26 points from 17 games. This gives them a points-per-game (PPG) ratio of 1.53, and extended over the full season, this would mean that the Hammers would end up with around 58 points. That is a huge improvement on last season, when West Ham finished with 39 points, and shows the scale of improvement that Moyes has been able to draw out of this side. It is also interesting to note that this projected points tally would have been enough for eighth place in the table last season, and with this campaign being a lot closer, and teams dropping more points, there is an opportunity here for the Hammers to sneak into the Europa League spots if they can maintain their form for the rest of the season.

So, where exactly have West Ham done well this season, at least from a statistical point-of-view? The team have been largely average in terms of goals scored and conceded, as well as expected goals, having scored 24 goals (11th highest in the league) against an xG total of 26.46 (9th highest in the league), while having conceded 21 goals (joint-seventh-lowest in the league) against an xGA total of 23.35 (11th lowest in the league). Thus, we can clearly see that the Hammers are outperforming in both defence and attack, which is good, while the margin of outperformance suggests that this could continue for some time, as it is not too wide, and can reasonably be put down to improvements having been made on the pitch, rather than luck. Interestingly, if we consider non-penalty xG, i.e., remove penalties from teams xG tallies, West Ham have the fifth-highest npXG in the league. This is down to the fact that the Hammers have yet to win a single penalty this season, but also shows that they have been quite creative from open play in comparison to other teams.

Their improvement at both ends of the pitch can also be seen from the following numbers. West Ham are averaging 10.15 shots/90, which may only be the 11th highest in the league, but is an improvement on their tally of 9.31 shots/90 from last season, when they were 15th for that measure. They also seem to be taking those shots from better positions  their average xG value per shot is at 0.143 this season, up from 0.132 last season, an improvement of over 8%. Now these may seem like small margins, but this can translate to an extra 5-7 goals over the course of a 38-game season, which could make a huge difference in the final standings. It is a similar story defensively as well  West Ham are letting opponents take 9.22 shots/90 so far this season, which is the 6th-lowest in the division, while they conceded 11.14 shots/90 last season, which was the 8th-worst rate for this metric. However, in terms of xG, West Ham are actually giving up better-quality shots  the average xG of shots conceded by the Hammers this season is 0.137, up 3% from last season, when the corresponding number was 0.133. Again, this is marginal, but could potentially hurt the team if the trend continues and the difference increases. Nevertheless, it is extremely encouraging that the team have been able to restrict their opponents to taking much fewer shots this season, and is a reflection of their excellent defensive organization under Moyes.

These stats and numbers paint a picture of a side that has tightened up defensively, and is also more clinical in attack. Moyes system has worked for the majority of the season, and even though he has been forced to make a change now due to injuries, the basic approach remains the same.

We will now look at some of the basic principles and ideas behind West Hams playing style this season which have allowed them to be so successful.

Defensive shape

West Ham started the season in a 4-2-3-1 shape, but a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on the opening day made Moyes switch to a back three. That 3-4-3/5-4-1 shape has been the Hammers default shape for the majority of this season, up until Arthur Masuakus injury robbed the side of a left wing-back, forcing Moyes to switch back to a 4-2-3-1. Nevertheless, the basic ideas and principles have remained the same, and we will look at these in more detail now.

Under Moyes, West Ham have become a compact, disciplined defensive unit. The defensive and midfield lines stay close to each other to deny space between the lines for the opposition, and they are content to funnel play out wide, from where their centre-backs can deal with crosses into the box. West Ham have been a largely passive side this season, as seen by two metrics  PPDA and challenge intensity. PPDA, or passes per defensive action, measures the number of  passes, on average, that a team allow the opposition to make before making a defensive action (tackle, interception, duel etc), while challenge intensity is the number of duels, interceptions and tackles made by a team per minute of opposition possession. West Hams PPDA so far this season is at 16.33, higher than last season, and the 7th highest in the league, showing how they have been content to sit back and soak up pressure. This is backed up by the challenge intensity metric as well, with the Hammers at 4.70, the second-lowest in the league. Both these statistics show that under David Moyes, West Ham have been a team that sits deep and is passive without the ball, but this has helped them become much more solid defensively as compared to last season.

This is a great example of West Hams defensive shape this season. The back five are fairly narrow, with the wing-backs looking to track the wide runners, while the four-man midfield is also extremely compact horizontally. The primary aim is to congest the centre and reduce space, forcing teams to go out wide into the highlighted areas, or try to play long passes over the defence, as Curtis Jones is doing here, which can be mopped up by the defence.

Another instance, this time from the game against Manchester United, of West Hams mid