West Ham Women finished their 3-0 defeat against Chelsea without registering a shot or a touch inside the opposition penalty area, according to FotMob’s match data.
Those two figures identify a problem Rita Guarino must address beyond the goals her side conceded.
Chelsea recorded 21 attempts and 47 touches in West Ham’s box. The Hammers had 34 per cent possession but generated no recorded expected goals.
The score remained 1-0 until Keira Walsh struck in the 80th minute, before Maika Hamano added Chelsea’s third.
West Ham need a route out of defence
Our view: the narrow scoreline for much of the afternoon should not disguise how little West Ham created.
Defending deep against strong opposition can be a reasonable starting point. It still needs an attacking route that gives the defence relief and forces the other team to account for a threat.
For Guarino, the review should begin with what happened after West Ham regained possession.
Was the first forward pass available? Did the player receiving it have support? Could the team retain the ball long enough to move out together?
The headline statistics cannot answer those questions alone. They do show why focusing only on finishing would miss the central issue: West Ham never reached the point of taking a shot.
Asseyi’s return to the starting XI gave Guarino another established attacking option, while Siren retained her place after scoring twice against Southampton.
The next improvement must be collective. West Ham need to create opportunities for those players to influence matches, rather than expect a change of personnel to solve everything.
