Three things we learnt from West Ham's defeat to Manchester United

Manchester United 4-0 West Ham United. It was a very bad start to the season for the Hammers and we cannot replicate this performance next week against Southampton. Here are three things that we learnt from the game…

Key players were missed

Going into the game we knew that we would be missing several key players. We had the same bad luck last season when it came to injuries and this significantly affected our performances. But let’s not forget that we have improved our squad this summer with our signings and we do have more depth. Michail Antonio, Cheikhou Kouyate, Manuel Lanzini, and Andy Carroll all missed the game.

READ MORE: West Ham United Fan View: How the Hammers can deal with the Red Devils

We did miss Carroll given that he does provide us with another option to Javier Hernandez. In the same manner in which Arsenal used Olivier Giroud against Leicester, we needed someone that could challenge the physicality of Manchester United and test them at set-pieces. Lanzini’s ability to ease past players and unlock defences meant that our attack was static in his absence and Hernandez was not being found on his runs behind the defence.

Summer signings struggled

Although it may have been due to the injuries in the squad, Slaven Bilic handed debuts to our four big summer signings. Marko Arnautovic, Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, and Hernandez all started the game. This wasn’t a surprise given that they all have played in the Premier League previously and they do not need to adapt to the league.

READ MORE: Previewing West Ham United’s 17/18 Premier League season

Hernandez showed his quality with his movement in behind the defence though a lack of creativity in our team meant that he did not receive the ball in dangerous areas. It was difficult for Arnautovic to have an impact on the game given Manchester United’s domination of the ball and Zabaleta struggled against the pace and directness of Marcus Rashford. But this was against one of the best teams in the Premier League and it is next week where they have to shine given the difference in opposition.

Romelu Lukaku haunts us once again

West Ham United are Lukaku’s favourite opponents and going into the game, he had scored 9 goals in 12 appearances. It now stands at 11 goals in 13 appearances. It was always going to be a tough game against one of the Premier League’s best strikers but signs of last season’s poor defensive organisation was on show once again. We were far too weak in tackles, made poor clearances, and there was no leadership in the team.

The midfield battle was also lost with Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba dominating. Obiang struggled, and was at fault for Lukaku’s first with Kouyate’s absence being evident. His power and presence in midfield is crucial to our performances and Bilic has to strengthen our midfield.