The Premier League is back this weekend, and West Ham are taking on Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The two meetings between the sides last season ended with a 2-1 victory for the Hammers on the road, and a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.
Tottenham are averaging 62.4% possession, which is the second highest in the league behind Manchester City so far, whilst West Ham are only averaging 45.4% possession (sixthth lowest in the division), meaning it is likely this game plays out with Spurs dominating proceedings on the ball.
West Ham are currently 12th in the Premier League after seven games, having won twice, drawn twice, and lost three times. They have scored ten times and conceded 11 goals, whilst Spurs sit ninth in the table, winning three times, drawing once, and losing three times, scoring 14 goals, and conceding eight.
If things don’t start to slowly move in the right direction, the Hammers could dip back into the market in January to further improve the squad, despite already spending £120m this summer, making ten new signings for the first team.
It’s not the first time they’ve lavishly spent, as the era of Manuel Pellegrini suggested…
West Ham's 2018/19 transfers
In the 2018/19 season, the Hammers made ten new signings for Pellegrini, spending £84m. Some of the names that were signed that summer include Felipe Anderson, Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko, and Jack Wilshere.
Anderson was signed for the biggest fee that summer, joining from Lazio for around £31.6m. In his time at the club, the Brazilian made 73 appearances, scoring 12 goals, providing 13 assists, and totalling 5,172 minutes played.
Felipe Anderson
£31.6m
Issa Diop
£20.8m
Andriy Yarmolenko
£16.6m
Lukasz Fabianski
£6.6m
Lucas Perez
£3.6m
Fabian Balbeuna
£3.3m
Xande Silva
£1.25m
Jack Wilshere
£0
Ryan Fredricks
£0
Carlos Sanchez
£0
Considering the fee he joined for, Lukasz Fabianski is probably the most successful signing here, going on to make 202 appearances for the Hammers (and counting), conceding 268 goals, and keeping 52 clean sheets in his 17,721 minutes played. He is, of course, still at the club, currently playing second fiddle to Alphonse Areola.
Perhaps one of the most disappointing transfers that season, despite being on a free, was Wilshere, as the expectation was so high for him to change the scope of that West Ham midfield.
Jack Wilshere's time at West Ham
Wilshere always struggled throughout his career with injuries, plaguing his best years at Arsenal, missing 261 games for the club with various problems. The English midfielder still managed to play 197 games for the Gunners, scoring 14 goals, providing 27 assists, and totalling 13,372 minutes played, but the expectation for him as a player was always far higher than that.
Arsène Wenger speaks incredibly highly about Wilshere, comparing him to Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, labelling him an “exceptional talent”.
“He makes me think about Mbappe because I played him at 17 years of age because he was an exceptional talent.”
Wenger further praised his ability to beat players, play the final ball, and use his fantastic football brain to affect matches.
But at West Ham, injuries continued to hamper him, missing 59 games across his two seasons at the club, only managing to make 19 appearances for the Irons in which time he scored one goal, provided one assist, and totalling 837 minutes on the field.
Despite joining on a free transfer, Wilshere became West Ham’s second-highest earner when he joined the club, making £100k-per-week and £5.2m-per-year, with only Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) earning more on £140k.
Heading into the 2019/20 season, whilst Wilshere was still struggling for fitness and minutes, he continued to earn this £100k-per-week, which was more at the time than Jarrod Bowen (new signing) on £60k-a-week, and Declan Rice who earned the same amount
Wilshere then left West Ham on deadline day in 2020, with the club terminating his contract by “mutual consent”. This ended up being the right decision, as the Hammers prioritised the growth and development of Rice, who made 35 appearances for the Hammers in the 2020/21 season.
Rice vs Wilshere comparison
Now the decision to develop Rice seems like the right one, with him having played 245 times for the club, scoring 15 goals, providing 13 assists, and amassing a mammoth 20,580 minutes. As well as this, he also captained the club to a European triumph, winning the UEFA Conference League in the 2022/23 season.
The England midfielder was then sold for £105m in 2023, becoming the record transfer fee between two British clubs at the time. The 25-year-old has now made 60 appearances for the Gunners, scoring eight times and supplying 11 assists.
Goals
0.00
0.25
0.05
0.03
Assists
0.23
0.00
0.03
0.07
Progressive Carries
1.82
2.50
0.81
1.37
Progressive Passes
4.55
3.33
3.80
4.74
Passes Attempted
49.8
31.3
45.6
46.5
Pass Completion %
88.6%
82.7%
86.2%
85.2%
Shots Total
0.45
1.00
0.62
0.88
Passes into Final Third
3.86
1.67
3.77
4.87
Tackles
1.59
0.42
2.93
3.05
Interceptions
1.59
0.25
1.54
2.05
As we know with hindsight, choosing Rice was the correct choice, but at the time, key figures at West Ham would have been making their decision based on many things. One of these is what Rice could offer that Wilshere doesn’t, and of course, that is availability.
He was also showing brilliant signs at an early age, already close in many metrics to Wilshere, including progressive passes, pass completion, and passes into the final third. In fact, they were later vindicated when Rice produced better metrics in the 19/20 season, bettering Wilshere’s progressive passes, and passes into the final third.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
This ability on the ball in midfield areas, along with the extra defensive actions Rice gave the team per 90 with 2.93 tackles, was enough to convince the Hammers board they were making the right choice, prioritising Rice’s development over Wilshere, a player who pocketed £10.4m in wages over two years.
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1 ByAngus Sinclair Oct 16, 2024
