Arne Engels was supposed to be the string-pulling, piano-carrying, tempo-setting metronome from which West Ham United’s midfield dominated all who dared to cross their path in the Championship.

Midfield? ‘What midfield?’ you might have cried as the Hammers failed to win the possession battle, as well as the war, during Saturday’s tragic 3-1 home defeat by West Bromwich Albion. Claret blood spilled, and their automatic promotion hopes lost in the mud.

West Ham United have been beaten twice in a row. Four times at home across all competitions. And for his marquee summer signing in Arne Engels, a Halloween horror-show was the continuation of an alarming downward trend.

Arne Engels had another day to forget as West Brom stun West Ham United

In defeat to Southampton seven days earlier, Engels was poor. Especially out of possession. He managed a single interception during over 90 minutes on the pitch; the Saints cutting through he and Divine Mukasa like wet tissue paper.

Today was arguably even worse. Perhaps his worst performance in claret and blue. Not only was Engels’ pass accuracy down from his usual average of 88 per cent [only 84 per cent hit the target versus the Baggies], his defensive contributions were once again conspicuous by their absence.

Per Fotmob, Engels made one tackle, one interception, and one ball recovery. He was also involved in just five duels. Considering that the Belgian played as the deepest – and therefore most defensively-responsible – of Nuno’s midfielders, these are damning numbers.

For the Baggies second goal, just after half-time, Engels was far too slow to react. Airidas Golambeckis was beaten by Felix Myhre inside the box, and the razor-sharp Morgan ran off Engels to slide home.

How much of this is Engels’ fault, though, is another matter entirely. A deeper question, in which the finger points at Nuno. You would not ask an award-winning pastry chef to cook up an elite paella. And if Engels looks like a midfielder lost in his current role, well, that’s because he shouldn’t be playing in his current role.

Nuno Espirito Santo is not using Engels in the role he was signed to play

At Celtic, Engels played alongside Callum McGregor. The experienced Celtic skipper would sit back, dictate things, and allow Engels to push on.

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hfhgvmstws

Last 3-4?games we lack cohesion, no creativity in midfield & up front…. Non existent . Nuno is basically……..clueless🤪

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Midway through the first half today, one picture said a thousand words. Engels was stood completely alone in the centre of the park. Divine Mukasa and Mohamadou Kante had pushed up into the frontline alongside Pablo, as the Hammers desperately chased an equaliser to Myhre’s 20th minute opener.

When Engels did receive the ball, he had very few options available to him. Mukasa and Kante were too far away to link with, meaning the one-time Augsburg man occasionally resorted to hopeful Hollywood passes. One, in particular, was pinged wastefully out of play when he tried to set Edvin Austbo away. On other occasions, Engels simply went back to the goalkeeper or his centre-backs.

He still played the most passes into the attacking third of any West Ham player with six. But sporting director Nils Koppen signed Engels to be the Hammers’ Mateus Fernandes replacement, due to his powerful running, his ability to join the attack from deep, and his quick, incisive distribution around the opposition penalty area. If you’ll allow us, Koppen bought Nuno a new TV, and he’s using it as a dinner table.

That Nuno continues to omit Edson Alvarez and is yet to reintroduce Soungoutou Magassa – West Ham’s two most natural deep-lying midfielders – is also a source of continued bemusement.

It is not hard to imagine Engels, or the attack-minded Mukasa, Kante and Tomas Soucek, looking a lot more comfortable with a defensive enforcer providing a shield behind them.

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cumberworth57

Need some fight in the team, Alverez and Magassa might bring that, in addition Alverez is a leader, El Capitano!

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“That [midfield] area was where we as a club said we needed to invest most, because we lost Mateus, who had a big impact on the team,” Koppen said in September. “That was clearly our objective; to find somebody with an engine who is young, but willing and able to come in, play, and contribute.”

Engels was extremely poor against West Brom. But in this system, he looks like a man set up to fail.