Both Bayer Leverkusen goals were scored by substitutes: Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface. When Xabi Alonso looked to his bench for some much-needed inspiration, the talent was there. When David Moyes did the same, he didn’t have as much confidence in the attacking options available.
Alonso made four changes between the 67th and 77th minutes. Six minutes after entering the field, Hofmann opened the scoring before Boniface scored in added time to seal a 2-0 victory for Leverkusen.
West Ham United had defended well up to that point, but the momentum grew with the Bundesliga leaders, who are yet to lose a game in any competition this season. Moyes’ game plan worked but was ultimately undone when he opted not to make substitutions during a crucial period of Thursday’s quarter-final first leg.
Danny Ings, Divin Mubama and Maxwel Cornet were his reserve attacking options. Ings has struggled to impact games as a starter but scored from the bench in March’s 2-2 draw against his former club Burnley. As a substitute, Cornet provided the assist for Tomas Soucek’s winning goal in the 1-0 win over TSC Backa Topola in November. But again, the duo were unused substitutes. Nayef Aguerd and Ben Johnson replacing Konstantinos Mavropanos and Mohammed Kudus were the only changes Moyes made.
The failure to increase their attacking options in January has come back to haunt West Ham. Kalvin Phillips was the club’s only signing, despite attempts to secure Jota and Nordsjaelland striker from Al-Ittihad, Ibrahim Osman, who has since joined Brighton & Hove Albion. A loan request for Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe has been rejected. Interest in Steven Bergwijn, former Tottenham Hotspur striker from Ajax, was never made official with an offer. Aston Villa have rejected a loan offer from striker Jhon Duran and Sunderland’s £20million valuation of Jack Clarke has proven prohibitive.
Said Benrahma left to join Lyon on loan while fellow striker Pablo Fornals joined Real Betis in an €8 million (£6.8 million; $8.7 million) deal. West Ham have failed to replace the duo and their lack of squad depth has been noticeable this season.
This is not the first January transfer window during which the club has failed to strengthen itself. West Ham did not sign a player in January 2022 despite being in contention for a top-four place and in the latter stages of the Europa League. With 11 league matches remaining, they were two points behind Manchester United, but a lack of depth cost Moyes’ side, who managed just three league wins during the remainder of the season.
There are parallels between this season and this 2021-22 campaign. West Ham are feeling the consequences of their failure to strengthen in January, which at the end of this season could be seen as a missed opportunity.
Although they remain in the hunt for a top six finish, reaching the semi-final of a European competition for a third season looks daunting, with Emerson Palmieri and Lucas Paqueta suspended for the second leg at the London Stadium on April 18.
But the defeat against Leverkusen had some positives: Michail Antonio gave defender Jonathan Tah a difficult evening, Lukasz Fabianski made several important saves to keep his team in the match and Tomas Soucek, in his 200th appearance, made two goal line clearances. to deny Tah in added time.
With Jarrod Bowen injured and Edson Alvarez out through suspension, Moyes has missed the attacking and defensive attributes of this pair respectively. The coach reverted to a wing-back system and the game plan was working before Alonso’s replacements changed things. The waiting Bundesliga champions had 18 shots in the first half but did not register their 19th until the 65th minute.
“I think the boys did a really good job,” Moyes said. “If you look at their recent history, Leverkusen scores late in the game. We were aware of that and we tried to change things defensively to make things more difficult. Dinos (Mavropanos) got injured and it affected us a bit. We played against a Champions League team and we’re probably not at that level yet.
“But we are still tied and that gives us half a chance in the second leg. It was a big blow tonight not having Jarrod and Edson. It’s football and you may not be able to participate due to suspensions and injuries at this time of year. We will motivate ourselves for next week and I hope the crowd will be behind us.
West Ham have overturned first leg defeats in the Europa League in their recent history, doing so in subsequent wins over Sevilla in 2021-22 and Freiburg in this year’s round of 16. Leverkusen could be Bundesliga champions this weekend and Moyes hopes his side can capitalize on any complacency.
“We are very disappointed because we worked hard for about 80 minutes,” Fabianski said. “You have to give credit to the opposition because they created a lot of chances and kept pushing to score a goal. But we are not going to give up, we have to believe in it and react in the second leg. We have a great record at home.
In their 2-0 round of 16 second leg victory over Sevilla in March 2022, it was Andriy Yarmolenko who endeared himself to the fans with his winning goal from the bench. Someone could make a similar impact if Moyes deserves to have more faith in his attacking replacements.
(Top photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)