Everyone’s favourite second club
West Ham are on the up after their triumph in Europe. They have a good team, solid manager and the fans seem to be back on side.
Welcome back to another blog from the day one series. This is a little FM24 guide into how to manage each team in the Premier League. Each guide will be about the objectives of each team, who the key players are and suggested tactics. The main problem is that new managers do not know who their first team are and how to play them.
In this blog, we are exploring West Ham, a club close to my heart. Over the years there have been so real ups and downs, with relegations, protests, winning the Europa conference league, the sacking of Moyes, the return of Moyes. It’s been a roller coaster but we are here to bring a level of consistency now.
In the guide, you will find everything you need to know to get started with West Ham United, including:
- What objectives do West Ham face and why they are important.
- The different types of players and how they work in the squad on FM24.
- Tips, tactics, and best practices to succeed with West Ham.
Read on and let’s see how far we can get West Ham!
Team Objectives
When starting to formulate a strategy, we need to know what our goals are. The way in which I do that is by looking at the supporter and board objectives when we start the game. Obviously these will change over time, but it gives us something to start with.
Supporter objectives
Let’s look at the supporter objectives to start off with. So on FM24 the fans want a top half finish, which is a great as that is the direction we want the team to be going. Playing attacking football is another bonus, as every team through out the league has wanted to play like this so far. So far so good, easy objectives to work towards.
Being competitive against Tottenham and Chelsea is straight forward, okay to lose, but not by much. Obviously, we are looking to win, not just turn up. As for Millwall, they aren’t in the same league and so it will be rare that we will see them, unless we meet in a cup run.
board objectives
Moving onto the board objectives, they are definitely more detailed. Straight away they want attacking football, so we are all on the same page and that is easy to build into a tactic. We need to make sure whatever we do that our mentality is positive when building a tactic.
With the other objectives there is a clear identity they are trying to adopt. It’s a team that is looking to rebuild and grow in the future. They are looking to get rid of anyone who is approaching 30 and buy in players under 23. This is really easy to follow, we simply put 22 as the max age on our player search criteria.
Developing players using the youth system is one of my favourite objectives as it gives us a chance to grow our own timber. We need to get the youth facilities up to speed, replace the coaching staff with staff high in motivation and working with youngsters.
West Ham first 11
Let’s assess the first team, who are our key players? Using the current ability stars, we can filter out who the key players are in this team. Additionally, it will filter out the weaknesses in the team and gaps in ability. So let’s look at the most talented players in the West Ham squad on FM24.
On my first observations the midfield is packed with talent. As well as that it clearly outlines two potential formations for us, 433 DM and 4231. We will flesh out the formation once we look at the squad. Zouma looks very good, but there is a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia, so it may be difficult to keep hold of him.
Let’s move onto the squad, we can see that it is solid if unspectacular squad. A lot of three star players and not a huge amount of potential above that. Looking at the positions that we have in the squad it looks as though we could play both formations competently. We also have two pressing forwards available, i would not play both together, plus they will be replaced soon as they are 30 or over.
So we also have a back four lined up with a good goal keeper. The main observation of this squad is that it is a good squad to start with. They do not have any obvious weaknesses, everyone is playing to a certain level and is just waiting to be upgraded. First mission would be to get rid of all the players that are over 30 and replace them with under 23s.
West Ham Tactics
The next step of the FM24 guide is to put it all together in a tactic. We have gone with the 4231 as the personnel suits the formation better, there is only one natural DM, whereas we have a number of MCs. Starting from the goals, we have two forwards that are fast and like the ball to feet, which means no high crosses.
I’ve gone with attacking inside forwards to push inside and strike the centre of defence. I think inside forwards are one of the most effective roles on FM24. The reason for the deep lying forward is to become a focal point for the central defence and pull them out of position. The main attack will rotate to the AMC, AML and AMR pulling defenders out of position and attack the space.
The centre of midfield is held by a deep lying playmaker to spray the ball across the field, and is supported by a ball winning midfielder to recycle the ball. While this is not as solid as having a DM, but there is still screen in place. The defence is a straight forward back line with a goal keeper, so fairly solid in itself.
Get started with West Ham today
I’m obviously going to enjoy using West Ham as they are club close to my heart. They have a fabulous team for a beginner as they have squad of little strengths and weaknesses. They have a large squad of good quality players which are ready to be upgraded, with that comes the flexibility.
The main strength of this team is the midfield, they have so many options, but the key players are mainly midfielders. They are going create and be the main goal threat. The weakness of the team are the strikers, they will need replacing soon enough, with someone who scores goals and is under 23.
I think the opportunity with the club is that it has launch pad to go from good to great. It has the squad, it can be upgraded and it’s going in the right direction with it’s youth policy. The threat to the club is that if the youth project is not harnessed correctly it will lead to an implosion. So as a result, align the club towards the youth project and follow it through.
Start a game with West Ham on FM24 today! Comment below and share this blog if you are enjoying the series so far.
