06/04/2014
16:00
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Liverpool
Goalscorers:
0-1 Steven Gerrard 44'
1-1 Guy Demel 45'
1-2 Steven Gerrard 71'
Analysis
Despite the result, I don't think I'm alone in thinking that this was a much improved home performance. For me, our performance against Liverpool demonstrated the good qualities that Sam Allardyce has tried to install into this West Ham side.
We were dogged and determined in defence, but we also showed plenty of attacking intent getting the ball out wide and running at the Liverpool defence regularly. We played the ball forward quickly, but we also passed on the ground, kept possession (relatively) well, and matched Liverpool for long periods in the game. In the second half Liverpool had more possession and territory than the first, but that was always to be expected.
Personally, I felt that the mixed up style we saw from West Ham was exciting to watch, and gave cause for optimism for the remainder of the season.
Despite Liverpool attempted 300 more passes than us, they were not streets ahead of us, and they certainly weren't able to sweep us aside in the manner they did to Tottenham Hotspur a week earlier.
I think the best way to demonstrate the differing styles of the side is to look at the images below.
These images show the most frequent pass combination by each team. For Liverpool, Gerrard to Skrtel, 19 times. For West Ham, Armero (who was excellent on his full debut) to Downing, 18 times. What you can see, is that Liverpool's most frequent combination of passes was a square ball from midfielder to defender. West Ham's was a ball forward, up the flank.
People talk about Allardyce as a long ball manager, but I think this is his preferred mode of attack. Get forward, fast, down the flanks, get the ball in the box.
Before the game, I said that the best way to play against Liverpool was to hassle and harry them in position, but remember to attack. I also placed particular emphasis on the fullbacks, and that they should follow the lead of Liam Ridgewell and Billy Jones of West Bromwich Albion.
The image above demonstrates how Pablo Armero was regularly looking to get the ball forward throughout the game, and Guy Demel showed that he was willing to get forward by registering his first West Ham United goal.
And you can see in the average position map below how Armero (#8) and Demel (#20) pushed high up the field to support the West Ham wingers, and restrict Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan from pushing forward.
You can see below, how West Ham's usual 4-2-3-1 looked more like a 2-4-3-1 yesterday, with Demel and Armero provided fantastic width throughout.
And just to further illustrate the point, below are Armero and Demel's heat maps.
You can see that both were defensively responsible (Demel won 2/2 tackles, 4 clearances, 1 interception, Armero won 2/3 tackles, 5 clearances, 2 interception), whilst offering an attacking outlet down the wing, and both were equally busy in the opposition half as their own.
And when they got the ball, both were useful in possession. Armero completed 22 out of 28 passes (79%), 1 out of 3 crosses, and created one chance. Demel completed 30 of his 32 passes (94%), was successful with 2 out of 4 attempted take ons, and had two attempts on goal.
The other area I made reference to before the game, was to hassle the Liverpool midfield and defence. Again, I pointed to West Brom's 50 attempted tackles and 13 fouls as a way of successfully disrupting the flow of the opposition.
Again, West Ham did exactly this.
Throughout the game, we attempted 33 tackles, and committed 10 fouls. Despite a rather feeble looking tackle success rate of 39%, the high volume of tackles shows the intent to force Liverpool to play the ball quickly, in an attempt to force mistakes.
From the images below, you can also see how a number of those tackles were in the opposition half, displaying the team effort that went into this gameplan.
I'm not going to talk about poor refereeing decisions, because we all know that ref made a number of important mistakes yesterday. Instead, I just want to focus on what was a very good team performance.
We should take heart from the fact that we are the first side to stop Liverpool from scoring from open play since Arsenal, way back on 2nd November, 23 league games ago.
With five games remaining, and the side pretty much safe from relegation, let's hope we can build on this performance, and give ourselves a strong platform for next season in the Premier League.
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-2-3-1
(-11) Adrián - Simon Mignolet (-9)
(48) Guy Demel - Glen Johnson (7)
(-17) James Tomkins - Martin Skrtel (27)
(-9) Winston Reid - Mamadou Sakho (20)
(-14) Pablo Armero - Jon Flanagan (-10)
(2) Mark Noble - Steven Gerrard (72)
(2) Matthew Taylor - Jordan Henderson (34)
(6) Stewart Downing - Raheem Sterling (26)
(1) Kevin Nolan - Philippe Coutinho (19)
(1) Mohamed Diamé - Luis Suarez (31)
(18) Andy Carroll - Daniel Sturridge (-3)
(-10) Antonio Nocerino - Lucas Leiva (24)
(15) Matt Jarvis - Kolo Touré (6)
(0) Carlton Cole - ()
Best Performance
(48) Guy Demel - Steven Gerrard (72)
Worst Performance
(-17) James Tomkins - Jon Flanagan (-10)
38% Possession 62%
313 Passes Attempted 613
Mark Noble 50 Most Attempted 96 Steven Gerrard
76% Passing Accuracy 85%
61% In Opp. Half 77%
Guy Demel 94% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 96% Mamadou Sakho
56 Long Balls 56
18% % Long Balls 9%
Mark Noble 8 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 16 Steven Gerrard
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Armero to Downing 18 - 19 Gerrard to Skrtel
15 Aerial Duels Won 13
54% Success 46%
Andy Carroll 11 Most Won 4 Martin Skrtel
Mark Noble 71 Most Touches 111 Steven Gerrard
Offensive Play
11 Attempts on Goal 17
1 On Target 8
8 Off Target 7
2 Blocked 2
64% From Outside the Box 41%
Kevin Nolan 2 Most Shots 6 Luis Suarez
7 Key Passes 12
Stewart Downing 2 Most Key Passes 3 Philippe Coutinho
30 Crosses 10
Stewart Downing 10 Most Attempted 3 Steven Gerrard
8 Successful Crosses 1
27% Success 10%
Mark Noble 2 Most Successful 1 Steven Gerrard
15 Take Ons Attempted 12
9 Successful Take Ons 6
60% Success 50%
Mohamed Diamé 4 Most Take Ons 2 Raheem Sterling
Defensive Play
33 Tackles Attempted 29
13 Successful Tackles 11
39% Success 38%
Mark Noble 6 Most Tackles 5 Jordan Henderson
38 Clearances 48
James Tomkins 10 Most Clearances 12 Martin Skrtel
11 Interceptions 9
Mohamed Diamé 2 Most Clearances 3 Jon Flanagan
2 Shot Blocks 2
Pablo Armero 1 Most Shot Blocks 2 Martin Skrtel
Discipline
10 Fouls 9
Andy Carroll 2 Most Fouls 3 Jordan Henderson
4 Yellow Cards 0
West Ham United: James Tomkins, Adrián, Antonio Nocerino, Pablo Armero
Liverpool:
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United:
Liverpool:
Head to Heads
Adrián vs Simon Mignolet
2 Goals Conceded 1
6 Saves 0
2 Claims 2
2 Successful Claims 1
100% Success 50%
24 Total Distribution 36
12 Accurate 29
50% Success 81%
7 Goal Kicks 8
2 Accurate 6
29% Success 75%
4 Throw Outs 4
4 Accurate 4
100% Success 100%
7 Kick from Hand 1
4 Accurate 1
57% Success 100%
6 Other 23
2 Accurate 18
33% Success 78%
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Andy Carroll 8 Most Passed To 15 Mamadou Sakho
Winston Reid 2 Most Passes From 9 Martin Skrtel
Guy Demel vs Glen Johnson
0 Aerial Duels 4
0 Duels Won 3
0% Success 75%
2 Tackles Attempted 2
2 Tackles Completed 1
100% Success 50%
4 Clearances 4
1 Interceptions 2
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
32 Passes Attempted 46
30 Successful 34
94% Success 74%
1 Crosses Attempted 1
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
0 Chances Created 1
2 Attempts on Goal 0
1 On Target 0
1 Goals 0
Mark Noble 9 Most Passed To 11 Steven Gerrard
Mark Noble 6 Most Passes From 8 Martin Skrtel
Mohamed Diamé vs Raheem Sterling
19 Passes Attempted 43
16 Successful 37
84% Success 86%
1 Key Passes 3
0 Assists 0
1 Attempts on Goal 2
0 On Target 2
0 Goals 0
5 Take Ons Attempted 3
4 Take Ons Successful 2
80% Success 67%
4 Tackles Attempted 3
2 Tackles Completed 1
50% Success 33%
0 Clearances 1
2 Interceptions 0
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Guy Demel 6 Most Passed To 11 Jordan Henderson
Guy Demel 7 Most Passes From 14 Jordan Henderson
Andy Carroll vs Luis Suarez
2 Attempts on Goal 6
0 On Target 2
0 Goals 0
1 Key Passes 2
0 Assists 0
34 Passes Attempted 50
20 Successful 36
59% Success 72%
0 Take Ons 5
0 Sucecssful Take Ons 2
0% Success 40%
16 Aerial Duels 1
10 Duels Won 0
63% Success 0%
Mark Noble 6 Most Passed To 6 Johnson
Mark Noble 10 Most Passes From 13 Jordan Henderson
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