5) 3 defenders at the back does not work
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West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic had set up his team in a 3-4-3 formation at the start of the game against an Arsenal side who are not short on attacking talent and flair. The move of playing just three defenders against Arsenal is never the right option and it was proved right yet again when the Gunners went 2-0 ahead inside 35 minutes.
The back three of Reid, Ogbonna and Tomkins could not stop Ozil and Sanchez from scoring. What a back three does to a side is that it stretches the defence line at the back and makes it wide.
It also means that the three central defenders are not very suited to the role if they do not usually play with that formation. It becomes difficult to decide which defender will be going for which ball. Manchester United have used such tactics under Louis van Gaal and have failed with it.
When Bilic changed the formation and got Emenike on to replace Tomkins and reshuffled the back-line, the West Ham defence knew which player had to play in which area. The 4-3-3 formation was better suited to stop the Arsenal attackers and in the end the tweak in formation worked for Bilic and his West Ham side.
