David Moyes should utilise West Ham ace Manuel Lanzini in the deep-lying midfield role against Newcastle tomorrow, and give Tomas Soucek a much-needed rest.
The Hammers play host to the Magpies at the London Stadium in the 12:30pm Premier League kick-off.
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West Ham desperately need to win this game.
Newcastle will represent a really stern test for the Hammers players though.
Eddie Howe’s men have won three consecutive Premier League games and they will be riding high on confidence. That’s in spite of having lost key man Kieran Trippier to a long-term injury.
The Hammers may well have to try something a bit different in order to give the Toon some problems tomorrow…
David Moyes must mix things up for West Ham against Newcastle
The Hammers have been in really poor form over the past few months actually.
The good thing is that we have managed to grind out results and are still well in the race for the top four.
Nothing less than a win will do against Newcastle, however, if we are to keep alive our Champions League dream.
The Magpies will probably sit deep and try and hit us on the counter attack tomorrow.
In order to stand a chance of winning, we need to control the game in the middle of the park. And we need a bit more creativity and guile on the ball.
With this in mind, Tomas Soucek needs to be dropped. The Czech Republic international has been poor for quite some time now and he isn’t the best when in possession of the football, especially in highly congested areas.
It’s time for the 26-year-old, signed for £15m in 2020 (Daily Mail), to be taken out of the firing line by Moyes.
Manuel Lanzini can then be deployed alongside Declan Rice in the deep-lying central midfield role.
The 29-year-old has been used in that role before a few times and always seems to excel there. It is still an unfamiliar position for him, however.
Moyes usually plays Manu in the number 10 role but I actually think he’s better when dictating the tempo of the game from deep.
Three points is an absolute must for West Ham tomorrow. And having Lanzini sitting just in front of the back four should enable us to control the game from the off. Doing that will also provide Moyes with the opportunity to give Said Benrahma a run out in the number 10 position from where he should be able to thrive.
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