West Ham suffered a 4-0 drubbing by Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon, with the east London club going down by three goals in the opening 38 minutes of their final pre-season game.
The Irons’ first half capitulation epitomised what’s been a difficult few weeks at the club with Mail Sport reporting that David Moyes could be nearing an exit, amid internal rows over the club’s recruitment.
They are yet to make a new signing this season, and today, Leverkusen showed the Irons the benefits of investing in an already good squad of players.
New acquisitions, Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface helped to both score and set up the a trio of spectacular first-half goals that stunned West Ham in what was a game for Moyes’ side.
Boniface, 22, was particularly a handful throughout the match, with the 6ft 2in striker notably having several opportunities to score, but was also unselfish during the match, teeing up his team-mates on several occasions while also winning a penalty to help his side score their fourth goal in the second term.
Hofmann, meanwhile, opened the scoring, stunning the London side with a superb superb free-kick from just on the edge of the penalty area, bouncing the ball in off the post to give his side the lead after just nine minutes.
It was a needless free-kick to concede too, with West Ham losing possession in the middle of the park, allowing Boniface to break free on the Hammers goal, with Kurt Zouma bringing him down on the edge of the box.
West Ham were certainly slow to start, with Xabi Alonso’s showing some excellent rotational play down the wings through Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli, with both racing through the away side’s defensive lines and keep the London side pinned back into their own half for much of the game.
It wasn’t long before the home side had doubled their lead, with Adli back-heeling the ball into the feet of Hofmann, who, instead of shooting, cleverly played a pass across the face of the goal towards Boniface on the far post.
While it appeared the the 22-year-old striker had tapped in for his second score, it was later confirmed that it Thilo Kehrer had conceded an own goal, with Boniface doing enough to help put his side 2-0 up.
After the goal, West Ham found a bit of momentum, with Thomas Soucek crashing a header into the cross bar just on the half-hour mark, their first and most dangerous attempt of the opening exchanges.
But despite their best efforts, Leverkusen would score again soon after, with Boniface chasing after a cute ball that was dinked over the Irons defence to hit a thumping shot across the face of the goal into the side netting.
It was a poor start to the match and Leverkusen would come out of the blocks just as quickly in the second half.
Had it not been for substitute goalkeeper Alphonse Areola’s out stretched left-arm, the Hammers could have conceded a fourth, with Boniface teeing up Adli, who thumped a powerful left footed shot across the goal.
Change was certainly needed during the break and Moyes intervened, altering the shape of his team, while also bringing on Michail Antonio, Vladimir Coufal and Nayef Aguerd. While they did have to weather more attacks from the German club, West Ham did show signs of improvement, denying the Leverkusen the space they were afforded in the first half.
It will be interesting to see what formation Moyes opts to play next weekend in their opening Premier League clash against Bournemouth next Saturday, notably switching to playing three fixed defenders at the back.
Boniface could have had his second soon after, finding himself one-on-one with Areola, and as he tried to fool the French goalkeeper by stepping over the ball, Kehrer dashed back to pull off a fantastic last-ditch to deny the striker an attempt on goal.
But the fourth goal would eventually come, with the Nigerian striker breaking free once again through the West Ham back line before being brought down inside the penalty area. Robert Andrich would extend the lead to 4-0 from the spot.
The Irons would press and have advance upfield against the home side, but again could not find a way into the the Leverkusen penalty area.
Ultimately, Alonso’s side were very well organised today which is impressive considering that the Spaniard has only been in charge of the team since last October.
They look a dangerous side to beat this year, particularly with Boniface up top, but it is a tough one for Moyes, who will have plenty to think about ahead of the new season.
