In Focus: Scamacca pushing to nail down Hammers starting spot

West Ham's goalless start to the season has increased calls for £35.5million summer signing Gianluca Scamacca to be given a spot in David Moyes' first-choice XI.

It has not been a dream start to the campaign for the Hammers boss but tonight’s Europa Conference League play-off clash with Viborg provides his players with a chance to boost their confidence.

And with the Irons needing to catch fire ahead of Brighton's visit to the London Stadium on Sunday, we turn the spotlight on Italian ace Scamacca.

Misfiring Michail

Moyes may not have lost too much sleep over the 2-0 defeat to champions Manchester City on the opening weekend.

But being beaten 1-0 at newly-promoted Nottingham Forest last Sunday will have raised more concerns.

Downed by Taiwo Awoniyi’s winner, the East London side missed a catalogue of chances to score, twice hitting the woodwork before Declan Rice failed to convert from the spot.

As is often the case when teams struggle scoring, focus has turned to the striker — Michail Antonio.

The Hammers No9 did not manage a shot on target across those two defeats, a continuation of his struggle for goals at the tail end of last season.

After a superb start to the 2021-22 campaign, the Jamaica international has scored only three times in 20 Premier League games in 2022 with the heavy workload clearly taking its toll.

Sharing the load

Antonio played 47 times in all competitions last term, and the South Londoner was desperate for extra firepower to share the goalscoring burden with.

In former Sassuolo striker Scamacca, 23, the Hammers will feel they have a player more than capable of injecting life into their front line.

The 6ft 5in forward was a man in demand having scored 16 times in 36 Serie A appearances last season, with his physicality, expert finishing and penchant for the spectacular demanding plenty of attention.

With the Irons winning the race for the Roman marksman likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio has been pleased with what he has seen so far.

He said: "He [Scamacca] looks quality. I’ve seen him in training, his hold-up play, his awareness, and in the 25-30 minutes he played his leap looked decent. 

"I’ve been very impressed by him and I feel like he’s a great signing."

A different proposition

Not only does Scamacca provide competition up top, he also offers the Hammers a completely different option in attack.

While Antonio’s game for West Ham is as much about using his physicality to link play as much as it is in finding the net, Scamacca is all about goals.

That is shown by the fact he did not provide a single assist and created only 1.03 chances per 90 minutes last season for Sassuolo, compared to eight and 1.34 for Antonio in those metrics.

Scamacca also gets more shots away per 90 (3.3) than Antonio (2.51) and looks to be a more natural finisher, shown by his superior shots on target (1.55) and shooting accuracy (46.84%).

The seven-cap international likes to score in different ways, with headed goals, long-range strikes and acrobatic finishes in equal measure. 

With the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma and Maxwel Cornet bound to create chances this term, Scamacca looks an ideal candidate to finish them off.

Gradual process

Limited to two substitute appearances so far, Moyes seems likely to slowly integrate Scamacca into his well-oiled first-team set-up.

While excited with what he has seen, the Scot insisted it will take time for his new striker to get up to speed.

Moyes said: "He's been very pleasant to work with so far. He speaks good English and the first thing you notice is he has a big stature about him. 

"Very technically gifted and likes to receive the ball into space and links up play well.

"His finishing looks good. But if we played him instead of Michail we're talking about two different strikers and that has an impact on how we play. 

"It's going to take time for all this to work together but I've been impressed so far."

Chance to shine

While that may be the case, the boss has had no hesitation in utilising Scamacca from the bench.

The Italian has been thrown on for a total of 54 minutes of action as a substitute so far.

Viborg will almost certainly offer less of a test than the Premier League opposition the Hammers have faced so far, so it could be the perfect opportunity to build up that integration into the team from the start.

With Scamacca and Cornet, the Irons boss now has the options to change things up in attacking areas — something he has all too rarely had before.

Given the success West Ham have already had under Moyes, Scamacca’s arrival might just help them reach even greater heights.