The future has become crystal clear for £55m West Ham trio as David Moyes makes a key change which lays a new foundation.
Some West Ham fans had started to forget what it feels like to wake up on a Monday morning having watched the team win at the weekend.
But a 2-0 victory over Wolves was just what the club needed as dark clouds had threatened to gather over the London Stadium for the first time since Moyes’ return to the club in 2020.
As the manager said himself one win does not much everything. And it was not a dominant win, far from it with Wolves having more possession and 200 more passes.
It was crucial to get the three points, though, and equally important to keep a clean sheet as the Hammers look to really get their season started after a dismal opening couple of months.
The win over Wolves proves significant in many ways for West Ham.
Because it saw the manager answer calls to alter the team in certain areas and it really paid off.
Having performed well for Germany at right-back during the international break West Ham fans called for Moyes to move Thilo Kehrer there at club level.
Future becomes crystal clear for £55m trio at West Ham as David Moyes makes key change which lays a new foundation
It paid off straight away as West Ham looked vastly improved as a unit, particularly defensively with Wolves – on the whole – restricted to shots from long range.
As a result the future becomes crystal clear for £55m trio at West Ham as Moyes makes that key change which lays a new foundation for the team.
Kehrer, a £10m bargain arrival from PSG, will now be the club’s starting right-back and will slot in at right centre back in a back five depending on the formation Moyes chooses.
Craig Dawson was immense on his return. But there has been speculation he still wants to move away for family reasons at the earliest possible opportunity.
And that will eventually see exciting £30m summer signing Nayef Aguerd – who is expected to return from a serious ankle injury in around a month – come into a new-look defence alongside Kurt Zouma.
At the moment £15m signing Emerson is playing as back-up to Aaron Cresswell.
But he impressed when he came on against Wolves and long-term he is expected to take over from the Liverpudlian as West Ham’s left-back or left wingback depending on the formation game by game.
It is evident that having Kehrer at right-back was a vast improvement on Vladimir Coufal.
Moyes won’t drop Dawson now and if and when he leaves in January or beyond, Aguerd will be coming into the side as his replacement.
Post Dawson, it means Moyes’ new-look defence in the medium to long term will be as follows with the £55m trio slotting into a back four or five:
Back four post Dawson:
Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson
Back five post Dawson:
Johnson or Coufal, Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson
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