David Moyes admitted West Ham simply couldn't cope with Manchester City's new tactic in their Premier League opener, as they'd never seen the Blues use it before.
Barring a couple of periods of pressure from West Ham, City controlled proceedings at the London Stadium, helped in a large part by full-backs Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo, both operating as inverted full-backs to join Rodri as a midfield three.
City have perfected using one inverted full-back in the last two years, but Moyes said West Ham were helpless to combat both Walker and Cancelo playing centrally as they simply weren't expecting it. ALSO READ: Man City boss Pep Guardiola responds to Erling Haaland frustration vs West Ham "It was really different, they played really well," Moyes said of City's performance. "They changed from last year when we played them a few months ago, we gave them a better game.
Tactically they changed, Walker and Cancelo either side of Rodri, they played with no full-backs. We found it hard to cope with them in the middle of the pitch and found it difficult to cope when they got it wide. "Today, tactically they were much better.