West Ham produced a solid defensive performance to keep a clean sheet and pick up a point against European hopefuls Everton at the London Stadium today afternoon.

Everton’s record against West Ham was a historically good one- they’ve had more wins in the last ten years against the Hammers than against any other opposition and Toffees striker Romelu Lukaku had scored in all of his nine previous appearances against WHUFC.

This match, and West Ham’s resoluteness in defence could be summed up by Ronald Koeman’s post match interview statement stating that he would have subbed off ten players at half time if he was allowed to. That was testament to how well West Ham’s back three, featuring Reid, Collins and Jose Fonte, performed as a unit (the first time since the Palace game that Bilic opted for a back three). Romelu Lukaku was kept very, very quiet and in a rather stunning stat- Everton had 0 (Yes ZERO) shots on target in the WHOLE game.

Complementing the back three were wing backs Arthur Masuaku and Edimilson Fernandes (the latter’s first start at RWB since Chelsea), both with similar hair cuts, that made it appear [Read more…]