It’s hammer time!
West Ham on FM24 are an enigma. The club has always been one extreme or the other, winning big or losing big. It provides for great moments in the club’s history.
Welcome to the next episode of the managing West Ham United in the first season series on FM24. This is part two of the season guide so far and the results of the season. The previous guides you can find here:
What I see with West Ham United on FM24 is that they are in an interesting place. They have just won Europe, which is impressive. It’s time to push on now and start competing with the big boys. They have the fan base, they have resources and they have the squad, let’s put it together and make something happen!
In this guide we are going to:
- Look at the end of season league performance and individual performances.
- We will look at the tactics which have been used.
- Where the team will go next.
Read on and let’s see how we can get West Ham United going on FM24!
West Ham United results on FM24
In this section we are looking at the team stats and how they measure up to our club and supporter objectives. First, while being general data, it stills contains indicators of our performance such as win rate, home and away and goals scored or conceded.
Straight away you can see we were never involved with the top clubs, the top 7. Furthermore, we are the best of the rest and that means we can focus on bridging the gap between the top 7 and us. Looking at the goals we are not far off 4th to 7th, so we are heading in the right direction here, a few tweaks could make the difference.
When we look at the goals conceded we are quite a way off the mark and this will need to be addressed. We can do this through looking at the goals conceded and how, creating a new block system with a lower press or even a change of roles in the defence. Additionally we will look at transfers and bring in better suited players for the roles.
We are definitely a high midtable team as we can see our wins and losses are balanced with a low number of draws in the mix. As well as this our goal difference is only a little higher than 0, meaning our goals scored and conceded were similar.
Individual Performances
After looking at the team stats, which are general stats, we start to dig into the individual stats. This data is very relevant if you have a bigger problem in your FM24 team data or if you are looking at the strengths and weaknesses of your team.
Looking at the West Ham United player performance data, it’s disappointing to see that only one player has got an average rating of over a 7. There are a few other players that have fallen slightly short, but in general this means the performances have not been good enough.
In the transfer window I wanted a new striker, and Richarlison was available to £20m so I took at punt. Unfortunately he has not started very well. I haven’t given up on him, and genuinely think he will be a good signing in time. The idea was to get a younger striker who could do the job over the next 5 years. Until then Danny Ings has performed better and scored 12 league goals.
Looking at the Xg data we can clearly see we have 3 players out performing their targets. Danny Ings is beating Xg by 150% which is impressive. Jarrod Bowen is beating his Xg by roughly 30%, which is a sign of a high performer, this is going to force changes in the tactics. Antonio has also doubled his Xg rating meaning he is 200% effective technically.
West Ham United tactics on FM24
In this section we discuss the tactics that we are using this season. We tend to start with the tactic that we built and then make changes as we go along. With West Ham United on FM24 I haven’t made any wholesales changes to the tactic as worked fairly well for the first year.
Due to the over performance of Bowen in the RW winger role, I going to make the LW a winger role too. This will potentially encourage more goals in the team through supply and the individual position. Additionally, This will benefit a striker that is good in the air as well as a finisher. Furthermore, the fullbacks already provide regular assists, as well as Ward Prowse from corners.
To make this tactic more solid, we could look at dragging the MCs to DM, this would create a screen in front of the defence. The downside to this is our attacks will become linear and focussed down the wings. This works with the winger role with high crossing and a target forward.
We could look a compacting the team in a midblock too. Currently we are playing typical gegenpress and this loses our shape. By minimising to a mid block and pushing the defensive line up we will close out the middle of the pitch. This means that teams cannot play through the middle of the pitch, forcing them out wide.
Conclusion
West Ham United have been a very fun team on FM24. There are a range of players in the team that will adapt to any tactic that you want to play. Unfortunately, the Saudi clubs upset a few of our players early doors and we lost Zouma. Either way this opened up options and we actually bought Richarlison for our journey.
The strength of this team is the flexibility, there are a number of players that can play in a number of roles. This means that you have the options of formations for your tactic. The weakness of the team is the squad size, surprising the squad is very small. This could be changed into a benefit if you are looking to push youth players.
The opportunity of this team is the youth system. There is a great youth system here, recruit the best staff to train them working with youngsters and motivating. Look at the scouts and if they are good at scouting youth ability. The threat to the team is that with a small squad you maybe get a number of injuries and suspensions and cripple your team. This could lead to poor performance and the team going backwards.
I hope you enjoyed this guide, now go and start your journey with West Ham United on FM24. Please comment any feedback below.
