West Ham’s new striker, Sebastian Haller, could turn out to be one of the signings of
the season if West Ham can find a way to get the best out of him. At Eintracht Frankfurt
Haller was part of the one of the best front threes in Europe, along with Luka Jovic and
Ante Rebic. Haller scored 15 goals, or 25% of Eintracht Frankfurt’s total of 60. Jovic
netted 17, while Rebic got 9. Between them, the trio also managed a number of assists:
Rebic got four, while Jovic got five and Haller nine, with three of those being scored by
Jovic.
Frankfurt’s trio had an almost telepathic understanding. Adi Hütter had most success
with a kind of 3-4-1-2, playing a direct style, playing out vertically or angled towards the
wide channels. They harnessed the strength and movement of Haller and Rebić, who were
equally adept at holding up the ball and feeding it on, or taking and driving forwards.
Rebic tended to play central but generally deeper, occupying a sort of ten position but
without simply creating with his passing. Haller and Jovic played ahead, but with the
Frenchman often peeling wide or dropping off, while Jovic stayed further forward to feed
off Haller and Rebic’s passes, or the crosses from Frankfurt’s excellent wing backs.
Rebic would make late runs into the box between his colleagues, or drift wide and pop up in
the wide or half spaces unmarked as well, meaning that both he and Haller were as likely
to create as they were to finish; the numbers reflect this shared attacking responsibility,
too.
Crucially, though, Haller did not work alone – supported both by superb wing backs, and
two forwards of real calibre, Frankfurt’s system got the best out of the French striker
and did not overload his playing responsibilities by asking him to do too much.
There is, of course, a danger that West Ham *could* do just this, and try to get Haller
to be all things to all systems. As Michael Cox pointed out in an article on The Athletic,
West Ham’s last few seasons have been marked by a lack of tactical consistency in their
forward options: Arnautovic dropped off to create and facilitate, Hernandez sniffed out
chances in the box but without contributing much to build-up, and Carroll fed off crosses
and laid on chances through flicked-on passes.
Three good players on their day, but it meant that a shift in personnel required West Ham
to adjust how they created chances too.
If the question is ‘how do we pack all of that into one forward’, then the answer
could well be Haller. As Cox points out: “The creativity of Arnautovic? [Haller] racked
up nine assists last season. The speed of Hernandez? Very much in evidence. The aerial
prowess of Carroll? No-one in Germany won more aerial duels last season.”
Against Manchester City, Haller was deployed as the central striker in a 4-2-3-1, with
Lanzini playing off him, Antonio on the left to start, and Felipe Anderson to the right.
Antonio’s use on the left meant that West Ham have an aerial out-ball to that side,
as well as long to Haller – this sees Lanzini or Haller moving into the left half space
to try to collect flicks towards them.
On the right, Anderson’s threat is cutting inside, and here Haller’s strength and ability
to play in others comes to the fore – he can receive the ball and not just shield it,
but actually move it forwards before playing a pass either inside to Lanzini or an onrushing
midfielder, or outside to Anderson – he can then float wide to provide a passing option
or play inside to provide an additional shooting threat if the ball is returned
The issue is that by increasing Haller’s role in the build-up and utilising his strengths
there, West Ham might miss out on his excellent scoring ability. Although Lanzini can play
him in and he can get on the end of crosses from wide, Haller’s natural tendency is
to involve himself – the fluidity and shared responsibilities of Frankfurt’s front three
meant that Rebic and Jovic could take on the link role or drift wide to cross – at West
Ham, Haller could find himself too involved in build-up without the support of other players
to get on the end of his creative work.
One solution is to play Haller alongside a second striker, or just off one, in reality
– and with Albian Ajeti, West Ham have an ideal candidate for this. Ajeti is capable
of holding up the ball and linking play too, just as Jovic could, and so Haller and him
in tandem would solve a number of issues. This could see a switch to a midfield diamond,
or a very staggered 4-2-3-1 with Haller as a sort of advanced, aggressive 10. Indeed,
West Ham could even set up in a similar vein to Frankfurt – with Cresswell or Masuaku
on the left and Fredericks or Zabaleta on the right, with Rice anchoring midfield alongside
a more creative, dynamic player, and Felipe Anderson or Lanzini playing off Ajeti and
Haller.
It’s a big call to change a team’s approach based on one player, and to use a system that
changes from Pellegrini’s favoured 4-2-3-1 to one he has never used – but it could
just be the best way to get the most from West Ham’s best player.