Three things we learnt from West Ham’s late victory over Bournemouth

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Full-backs play their part but Hammers offense a work-in-progress

The previous use of Michail Antonio in the right-back position in Slaven Bilic’s mind was to encourage the full-backs to get forward more and help add more width and creativity to the side by overlapping the wingers. The shifting of Antonio back to his preferred advanced role however didn’t stifle the craft of Bilic’s team, and Sam Byram who filled in at right-back, who signed for the Hammers from Leeds United, looked right at home, as did new recruit Arthur Masuaku from Olympiakos on the opposite flank.

The two full-backs did a sterling job pushing forward to support and overlap their wingers, and they played as high as the halfway line at times, with the midfield duo of Cheikhou Kouyaté and Havard Nordtveit screening the two centre-halves by sitting deep in midfield, with Mark Noble the central playmaker. In tight games where the Hammers need to apply pressure, the outlet seems to be out wide from Bilic’s team and eventually the pressure told as Gokhan Tore managed to get a cross into the area for Antonio’s winner.

West Ham had to show grit at times and capitalise when they had the ball with Bournemouth edging the game in terms of possession. For the 15 shots that West Ham were able to muster however, a mere two of them were on target. They edged out this one, a tight contest, thanks to their determination and pressure, and capitalised on their break when Harry Arter saw red for a second yellow card.

However having taken so long and relying on the luck of Bournemouth going a man down to shatter their resistance, Slaven Bilic will know that his side need to be more creative and more clinical in the final third.  Particularly so given that their next fixture is a visit to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as part of Matchday III’s Super Sunday showcase.