Jesse Lingard: West Ham’s throwback No.10
Attacking midfielders are back in fashion. Teams are moving away from 4-3-3 shapes and reverting back to 4-2-3-1. On paper, there’s not a huge dissimilarity between the systems, but the roles in midfield are drastically different.
Throughout the course of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, many of the top teams have made the switch and this has freed up a number of players, all of whom have impressed.
Bruno Fernandes is the star of the show at Old Trafford, Kevin de Bruyne has been deployed as the No.10 for Manchester City and, perhaps surprisingly, Tanguy Ndombele has been used in an attacking midfield role for Spurs.
West Ham also made the decision to move away from a back three system. David Moyes added Jesse Lingard to his squad and the on-loan United midfielder is thriving in the capital as the man tasked with supporting the centre-forward.
The Hammers are currently fourth in the Premier League and just four points off second spot. Lingard has three goals in four starts and the team have picked up ten points from the 12 on offer. During that four-game period, they’ve scored eight goals and conceded just two.
The way in which the 28-year-old is being used really is a throwback. During the 00s, 4-2-3-1 was the system to use. The No.10 was as much of a goal threat as the No.9 and it was during this era that Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard really stepped up. The pair would drop deep, support the wide attackers and then pop up in and around the area. They were No.10s in name and nothing more.
This role then morphed into more of a creative one, with the main playmaker sat behind the striker pulling the strings. The idea then was to get the ball to them and then they’d make something happen.
Lingard falls into the former category.
Throughout his career, he’s played in wide areas and as a central midfielder. All of his experience is what makes him so perfect for West Ham. Moyes doesn’t want a stationary No.10. He wants someone who can support the two in midfield, the wide players and the forward. Lingard, as evidenced in the graphic above, is doing just that.
One of the most underrated parts of the modern game is movement ahead of the forward. Players with the selflessness to make those runs can really change the outcome of a game. It’s why the England international is scoring so much for his new team. When West Ham break, Lingard attacks the space, wherever it is.
His pass map is very telling. The area you’d usually associate with an attacking midfielder is sparse. However, that’s down to the fact he’s not a stationary sort of player. He’s got the athleticism and the energy to get involved in wide areas and he’s got the dribbling ability to receive the ball in the centre of midfield and play out of danger.
The starting position is just that, a starting point. Like Gerrard and Lampard, he’s given the freedom to be anywhere but the No.10 area. It’s why he’s so effective. It’s why West Ham look much more of a threat with him in the team. That role needs a player with the perfect profile to carry out all of the instructions. Moyes has struck gold with Lingard.
All the graphics and visualisations in this article use Wyscout data and were produced in the Twenty3 Toolbox.
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