da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.
da roleta： After starting the Premier League campaign so brightly, West Ham were brought back down to Earth with a shuddering halt as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat away to Everton on Saturday afternoon.
Snapshot
The Hammers could have gone just one point behind last season’s Premier League champions Manchester City with a victory at Goodison Park, but a rather insipid display saw them lose to a team that had suffered four defeats on the trot.
Bernard’s first-half goal gave the Toffees a deserved lead at half-time, and though Manuel Pellegrini tried to shake things up with the introduction of Andriy Yarmolenko at the break, the Hammers didn’t really lay a significant glove on the home side.
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Despite only trailing 1-0, the West Ham boss waited until there were only 16 minutes left before bringing on summer signing and bona-fide striker Albian Ajeti – a decision that proved to be too little, too late.
Off the bench
Though both sides were relatively even in possession, it was Everton who always looked the more dangerous. As per Sofascore, Marco Silva’s side registered 19 total shots on goal compared to the visitors’ measly eight. That dominance was largely in part to the complete isolation of Hammers forward Sebastien Haller.
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The Frenchman had just 43 touches of the ball, whilst he comprehensively lost his physical battle against Toffees centre-backs Michael Keane and Yerry Mina – only managing to win nine out of his 22 aerial duels. As a result, West Ham had no platform to build from going forward, and the ball just kept coming back towards their own goal far too easily.
Pellegrini needed to provide Haller with some more support, and bringing on Ajeti far earlier could have helped occupy the dominant Everton defence. It was rather telling that it was only after the Swiss man’s introduction that the London side enjoyed their only brief spell of concerted pressure.
The West Ham boss was perhaps afraid that if he gambled too soon, the Toffees would just hit them on the break and close out the game. But because of his reluctance to roll the dice sooner, Pellegrini cost his side a chance of snatching a result they did not deserve – the real hallmark of a truly good side.