With the club football season all done and dusted, attentions are swiftly being shifted towards the summer transfer window, where West Ham have already been busy.
The Hammers have signed two keepers in the form of Roberto and David Martin on free transfers as well as shifting off the likes of Lucas Perez and Edimilson Fernandes for a combined total of £10 million, and more names are expected to come and go from east London.
As striker is set to be a priority for Manuel Pellegrini this summer as well as added creativity in the midfield, but one area of the pitch that has been vastly underlooked is the fullback position.
On the surface, it appears West Ham have things sorted at fullback. Aaron Cresswell has been a solid member of the Hammers XI for many years and Pablo Zabaleta and Arthur Masuaku provide the team with good options off the bench, as well as Ryan Fredericks, but dig a little deeper and you find gapping problems.
Looking at the numbers from Who Scored, it is quickly apparent that in the modern era of football, West Ham’s fullbacks are simply not creative enough when it comes to attacking output.
In the age of the game where fullbacks are more important than ever, West Ham’s selection seems to not have received the memo, registering just three assists between all four of them and averaging 0.5 key passes per game.
Compared to the Hammers Premier League rivals, the likes of Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira at Leicester City have between them registered 10 assists and averaged 1.0 key pass a game, whilst Wolves pair Matt Doherty and Jonny have managed six assists and an average of 1.0 key pass a game between them.
Being able to create chances from fullbacks has been one of the defining traits of the modern game, with teams these days winning titles and championships on the basis of having defenders who can bomb up and down the pitch and both create and defend.
West Ham have lofty ambitions of one day being in the mix for a top-six place, but if the club are unable to get with the times they risk missing out as other teams in the division overtake them with tactics and players who can refill the roles the modern game require to be successful.