Sunday 7th December 2014
13:30
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United 3-1 Swansea City
0-1 Wilfried Bony 19'
1-1 Andy Carroll 41'
2-1 Andy Carroll 66'
3-1 Diafra Sakho 87'
Analysis
So the West Ham train keeps rolling on.
A fantastic 3-1 win against Swansea on Sunday followed impressive wins against West Brom and Newcastle, and all of sudden we find ourselves in the top four (though the chat in the office yesterday was more about how close to safety we are than the Champions League).
Positives
Garry Monk has come out since the game and criticised his sides performance, claiming they simply weren't at the races. Whilst that may be true, I think it does a little bit of a disservice to West Ham's performance.
We were excellent on the day, threatening throughout and dominating possession against a side regarded as the Premier League's tika-taka kings.
I said before the game that teams who really go at Swansea and try to dominate the game tend to do well against them, highlighting the number of shots attempted, and take ons in the Swans half.
Well, West Ham did exactly what other sides have done to find success against Swansea. The images below show West Ham's attempted take ons (left) and attempted tackles (right).
You can see that the Irons attempted 19 take ons in the Swansea Half, and put in 11 tackles in that half of the pitch.
This aggressive approach enabled the team to win the ball high up the pitch and attack with menace. And when we had the ball in opposition territory we had the players to cause damage.
The image below shows the chances we created during the game. You can clearly see that we were not limited to one approach to create our chances, with a range coming from the hole behind the strikers, and a fair amount coming from the flanks.
The final positive I want to mention is the difference between our approach and Swansea's.
I think most West Ham fans will agree that both Aaron Cresswell and Carl Jenkinson were exceptional at the weekend. Both gave a masterclass in how to play as a modern full back, contributing both in attack and defence.
Compare this with the performances of Swansea's Angel Rangel and Ashley Richards. Both had good games, Richards in particular, but in a very different way. Whilst West Ham's full backs were given licence to get forward at every opportunity, Richards and Rangel stayed deep and worked primarily as defenders.
The chart below shows the differences in their games. Cresswell & Jenkinson created more chances, put in more crosses and attempted more take ons, whilst Rangel & Richards put in more tackles and made more interceptions and clearances.
This sort of approach is exactly what a number of fans were calling for last season, when the likes of George McCartney and Joey O'Brien would be far more likely to do the Rangel & Richards role than the current West Ham style.
Negatives
For me, there was one real weakness on Sunday afternoon: that we were caught on the counter attack. This isn't the first time it's happened, and it is probably the main flaw in our current game.
The image below shows Swansea's goal. We've all seen it and we know how it happened, but the image just highlights how the turned defence into attack quickly at a time when we were pressing.
And the next images show goes we've conceded against Stoke & Everton. Again, with both goals the opposition broke quickly from the back, got forward rapidly and found success.
This is a bit of a byproduct of playing with two attacking fullbacks, and something that most fans will accept if we keep seeing success with this style. However, it is absolutely something that Sam Allardyce won't be happy with, and it's something to keep an eye on.
Key Player
This is probably the easiest bit for me writing this. Many people may disagree and point to the performances of Jenkinson, Cresswell, Song, Nolan or Carroll, but, for me, Diafra Sakho changed the game when he came on.
In the first half, Enner Valencia struggled to get involved and make an impact, and was removed at half time looking like a man lacking match fitness. But when Sakho entered the fray, he changed everything,
He had four shots on goal, attempted four take ons, and scored the goal to seal it. His adventure and endeavour also led to the red card received by Lukasz Fabianski - another pivotal moment in the game.
The image below shows where he had his touches. In the end, 27% of his touches came in the Swansea box, compare this to 17% of Enner Valencia's, and you can see that Sakho's presence was felt by the Swansea defence.
Conclusion
Last winter, I would sit down after a game and find some time to write about the match, what I had seen, what I felt about the performance, and what the stats bore out.
Exactly one year prior to this result, we lost 4-1 an Anfield and were utterly dreadful - this came after a terrible 1-0 defeat at Selhurst Park. We didn't win in the league between the 30th November and the 11th January, picking up just two points from 7 games.
If you'd have told me back then that I'd be writing about a West Ham side that sat in the top four as we approach Christmas, I'd've probably laughed you out of the place.
But that's where we are, and I can't quite believe it.
General Play
WhoScored Performance Rating
4-1-2-1-2 Formation 4-2-3-1
(6.6) Adrián - Lukasz Fabianski (5.4)
(7.3) Carl Jenkinson - Angel Rangel (6.3)
(7.3) James Tomkins - Kyle Bartley (7.3)
(7.2) Winston Reid - Ashley Williams (7.1)
(7) Aaron Cresswell - Ashley Richards (7.8)
(7.4) Alex Song - Leon Britton (6.7)
(6) Cheikhou Kouyaté - Ki Sung-Yeung (7.5)
(6.3) Kevin Nolan - Wayne Routledge (6.4)
(7.7) Stewart Downing - Gylfi Sigurdsson (7.2)
(9.6) Andy Carroll - Jefferson Montero (7.4)
(6.1) Enner Valencia - Wilfried Bony (8)
(7.6) Diafra Sakho - Gerhard Tremmel (6.9)
(6.5) Joey O'Brien - Bafetembi Gomis (6.1)
(6.1) James Collins - Nathan Dyer (6)
Best Performance
(9.6) Andy Carroll - Wilfried Bony (8)
Worst Performance
(6) Cheikhou Kouyaté - Lukasz Fabianski (5.4)
54% Possession 46%
381 Passes Attempted 313
Alex Song 58 Most Attempted 44 Ki Sung-Yeung
79% Passing Accuracy 74%
65% In Opp. Half 57%
Stewart Downing 94% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 91% Ki Sung-Yeung
58 Long Balls 51
15% % Long Balls 16%
James Tomkins 13 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 13 Ashley Williams
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Adrián to Carroll 11 - 12 Richards to Ki
24 Aerial Duels Won 15
62% Success 38%
Andy Carroll 13 Most Won 5 Kyle Bartley
Alex Song 70 Most Touches 63 Ashley Richards
Offensive Play
15 Attempts on Goal 11
7 On Target 2
3 Off Target 4
5 Blocked 5
20% From Outside the Box 36%
Diafra Sakho 4 Most Shots 5 Wilfried Bony
11 Chances Created 12
Stewart Downing 5 Most Chances Created 3 Ki Sung-Yeung
36 Crosses 12
Stewart Downing 18 Most Attempted 6 Wayne Routledge
12 Successful Crosses 2
33% Success 17%
Stewart Downing 6 Most Successful 1 Wayne Routledge
20 Take Ons Attempted 13
11 Successful Take Ons 9
55% Success 69%
Alex Song 4 Most Successful Take Ons 3 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Defensive Play
24 Tackles Attempted 40
5 Successful Tackles 14
21% Success 35%
Aaron Cresswell 2 Most Tackles 7 Ashley Richards
29 Clearances 60
James Tomkins 8 Most Clearances 17 Ashley Williams
14 Interceptions 14
Winston Reid 5 Most Interceptions 6 Ashley Richards
5 Shot Blocks 5
James Tomkins 4 Most Shot Blocks 3 Ashley Williams
Discipline
11 Fouls 18
Wilfried Bony 5 Most Fouls 4 Andy Carroll
0 Yellow Cards 1
West Ham United:
Swansea City: Wayne Routledge
0 Red Cards 1
West Ham United:
Swansea City: Lukasz Fabianski
Head to Heads
Adrián vs Lukasz Fabianski
6.6 WhoScored Rating 5.4
1 Goals Conceded 2
1 Saves 2
2 Claims 3
2 Successful Claims 3
100% Success 100%
31 Total Distribution 26
23 Accurate 9
74% Success 35%
8 Goal Kicks 7
4 Accurate 2
50% Success 29%
4 Throw Outs 5
4 Accurate 4
100% Success 80%
2 Kick from Hand 0
2 Accurate 0
100% Success 0%
17 Other 14
13 Accurate 3
76% Success 21%
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Andy Carroll 11 Most Passed To 3 Kyle Bartley
Winston Reid 7 Most Passes From 5 Kyle Bartley
Carl Jenkinson vs Ashley Richards
7.7 WhoScored Rating 7
0 Aerial Duels 2
0 Duels Won 1
0% Success 50%
2 Tackles Attempted 8
1 Tackles Completed 4
50% Success 50%
0 Clearances 8
2 Interceptions 6
0 Shot Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
23 Passes Attempted 40
16 Successful 31
70% Success 78%
10 Crosses Attempted 0
5 Successful 0
50% Success 0%
3 Chances Created 0
0 Attempts on Goal 0
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
James Tomkins 7 Most Passed To 12 Ki Sung-Yeung
Alex Song 9 Most Passes From 11 Ki Sung-Yeung
Stewart Downing Gylfi Sigurdsson
7.7 WhoScored Rating 7.2
34 Passes Attempted 29
32 Successful 23
94% Success 79%
4 Chances Created 2
1 Assists 0
0 Attempts on Goal 4
0 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
0 Take Ons Attempted 4
0 Take Ons Successful 3
0% Success 75%
18 Crosses Attempted 3
6 Successful 1
33% Success 33%
0 Tackles Attempted 7
0 Tackles Completed 0
0% Success 0%
0 Clearances 1
1 Interceptions 1
0 Shot Blocks 2
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Aaron Cresswell 9 Most Passed To 8 Wayne Routledge
Aaron Cresswell 9 Most Passes From 6 Wilfried Bony
Andy Carroll vs Wilfried Bony
7.3 WhoScored Rating 7.1
3 Attempts on Goal 5
2 On Target 1
2 Goals 1
53 Touches 38
11 in Penalty Area 3
20% % Penalty Area 7%
3 Chances Created 2
1 Assists 0
38 Passes Attempted 22
20 Successful 16
53% Success 73%
1 Take Ons 0
0 Successful Take Ons 0
0% Success 0%
17 Aerial Duels 11
13 Duels Won 4
76% Success 36%
Kevin Nolan 5 Most Passed To 6 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Adrián 11 Most Passes From 6 Gylfi Sigurdsson