27/10/2013
16:00
Liberty Stadium
Swansea City vs West Ham United
Goalscorers
Analysis
Another point on the road. Four clean sheets in five away games. An improvement by three goals an one point on the same fixture last season. At the start of the season, most of us agreed that an improvement in away results would be a crucial factor in seeing us develop this season, and it appears we are getting there.
But there were more than enough opportunities for us to win this game.
We are all getting used to Sam Allardyce saying in his post match conferences that we are creating chances but failing to take them. Sometimes we don't all agree with Sam's point, but there was no arguing this week.
The image below shows the number of shots off target by West Ham yesterday afternoon. There were seven different attempts off target, six of which came from within the penalty area, and four of which came within the six yard box.
Failing to even hit the target on four different occasions from within the six yard box is criminal, and we need to start taking these opportunities if we want to climb up the table.
And this inability to take our chances meant we, yet again, relied on our defence and goalkeeper to save the day.
Jussi Jaaskelainen made 5 saves on the day, with one or two of them at the very highest standard (Wilfried Bony's attempt had my heart in my mouth!), and the defence were once again almost impenetrable.
Between them, the back four of Guy Demel, James Tomkins, Winston Reid and Razvan Rat managed 5 tackles, 11 interceptions, 22 clearances, and blocked three shots.
Between the five of them, they managed to thwart 8 goal-bound Swansea attempts, as shown in the image below (Purple = Saved, Orange = Blocked).
One thing we did see for the first time in a while was a big man leading the line. Although we started with the strikerless 4-6-0 again, Carlton Cole's introduction gave us a different way to attack.
Carlton's return to the club has not been universally welcomed by supporters, but he certainly managed to provide an alternative outlet in attack on Sunday. He only managed 15 touches of the ball, but with those, he managed to get one shot on target, create a goalscoring opportunity for Matt Jarvis, and, perhaps the one thing we've most lacked in the absence of a big man, four clearances.
The image below shows Carlton's attempted passes. What you can see, is that he operated within the width of the 18 yard box and no wider - giving the side a real focal point. Okay, so his passing wasn't perfect with a 43% accuracy, but his presence allowed us to regain a foothold in the game when it looked to be slipping away.
The final area that I wanted to focus on was the performance of Kevin Nolan.
There has been a lot of criticism of Nolan's involvement so far this season - with the skipper failing to gain a foothold in game after game in the Premier League.
Well, Sunday afternoon was no different. In a full 90 minutes, Nolan touched the ball just 26 times - less than all West Ham players other than the substitutes and Ricardo Vaz Te (removed after half an hour with injury).
He did get involved in the dirty, defensive work - attempting three tackles, and managing one interception and a clearance, but his defensive role appears increasingly baffling. The selection of Nolan in this deeper, defensive role next to Mark Noble is designed to allow Mohamed Diamé the opportunity to push on and attack the opposition. But Diamé is one of our best tacklers, and his energy and ability to drive with the ball from deep was one of our most effective weapons last season. It seems that Nolan sitting in this role is forcing Diamé out of his best position, and moving Nolan away from the areas in which he is most effective.
The image below shows Nolan's passes. Although he was useful on the ball (81% passing accuracy) his total of 16 attempted passes essentially renders him anonymous in possession.
Any point away from home is a good point, so we should be pleased with this result. But we will always wonder what could, or should, have been in this game.
A midweek trip to Burnley in the Capital One Cup will give us the opportunity to get a few more players up to speed before Aston Villa come to the Boleyn next Saturday, in a game we really need to to win.
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-2-3-1
(47) Michel Vorm - Jussi Jääskeläinen (43)
(22) Angel Rangel - Guy Demel (15)
(66) Chico Flores - James Tomkins (24)
(63) Ashley Williams - Winston Reid (46)
(24) Neil Taylor - Rǎzvan Raţ (18)
(4) Leon Britton - Mark Noble (18)
(1) Jonathan De Guzman - Kevin Nolan (10)
(8) Nathan Dyer - Stewart Downing (36)
(16) Miguel Michu - Ravel Morrison (-1)
(-10) Wayne Routledge - Ricardo Vâz Te (2)
(-16) Alvaro Vazquez - Mohamed Diamé (-18)
(27) Pablo Hernandez - Matt Jarvis (-26)
(11) Wilfried Bony - Carlton Cole (6)
(n/a) - Joe Cole (-35)
Best Performance
(66) Chico Flores - Winston Reid (46)
Worst Performance
(-16) Alvaro Vazquez - Joe Cole (-35)
65% Possession 35%
644 Passes Attempted 326
Ashley Williams 94 Most Attempted 38 Mark Noble
82% Passing Accuracy 65%
71% In Opp. Half 59%
Jonathan De Guzman 92% Best Accuracy 88% Ravel Morrison
56 Long Balls 62
Ashley Williams 12 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 7 Rǎzvan Raţ
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Williams to Chico 23 - 9 Noble to Downing
7 Aerial Duels Won 15
32% Success 68%
Ashley Williams 3 Most Won 4 Winston Reid
Ashley Williams 110 Most Touches 55 Mark Noble
Offensive Play
10 Attempts on Goal 15
5 On Target 5
2 Off Target 7
3 Blocked 3
4 From Outside the Box 3
Miiguel Michu 3 Most Shots 3 Stewart Downing
8 Key Passes 12
Pablo Hernandez 2 Most Key Passes 2 Stewart Downing
23 Crosses 18
Jonathan De Guzman 12 Most Attempted 7 Stewart Downing
4 Successful Crosses 6
17% Success 33%
Jonathan De Guzman 4 Most Successful 3 Stewart Downing
Defensive Play
15 Tackles Attempted 13
13 Successful Tackles 9
87% Success 69%
Wayne Routledge 2 Most Tackles 3 Kevin Nolan
32 Clearances 35
Ashley Williams 12 Most Clearances 9 James Tomkins
7 Interceptions 19
Angel Rangel 2 Most Interceptions 5 Winston Reid
4 Shot Blocks 4
Angel Rangel 3 Most Shot Blocks 2 Winston Reid
Discipline
10 Fouls 14
3 Most Fouls 3
1 Yellow Cards 0
Swansea City: Angel Rangel
West Ham United: Guy Demel, Ravel Morrison, Joe Cole
0 Red Cards 0
Swansea City:
West Ham United:
Head to Heads
Michel Vorm vs Jussi Jääskeläinen
0 Goals Conceded 0
4 Saves 5
5 Claims 5
4 Successful Claims 5
80% Success 100%
10 Total Passes 17
7 Accurate Passes 10
70% Success 59%
4 Long Balls 14
40% % 82%
9 Throw Outs 3
1 Kick from Hand 3
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Chico Flores 6 Most Passed To 4 Carlton Cole
Angel Rangel 3 Most Passes From 3 James Tomkins
Ashley Williams vs Winston Reid
4 Aerial Duels 5
3 Duels Won 4
75% Success 80%
1 Tackles Attempted 1
1 Tackles Completed 1
100% Success 100%
12 Clearances 9
2 Interceptions 5
0 Blocks 2
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
94 Passes Attempted 30
84 Successful 17
89% Success 57%
0 Crosses Attempted 0
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
0 Chances Created 0
0 Attempts on Goal 0
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
Chico Flores 23 Most Passed To 3 Kevin Nolan
Chico Flores 21 Most Passes From 3 Mark Noble
Jonathan De Guzman vs Kevin Nolan
77 Passes Attempted 16
64 Successful 13
83% Success 81%
2 Key Passes 1
0 Assists 0
1 Attempts on Goal 2
0 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
1 Tackles Attempted 3
1 Tackles Completed 2
100% Success 67%
0 Clearances 1
0 Interceptions 1
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Leon Britton 11 Most Passed To 3 Stewart Downing
Angel Rangel 12 Most Passes From 3 Winston Reid
Wilfried Bony vs Carlton Cole
1 Attempts on Goal 1
1 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
0 Key Passes 1
0 Assists 0
5 Passes Attempted 7
4 Successful 3
80% Success 43%
2 Aerial Duels 1
0 Duels Won 1
0% Success 100%
2 Nathan Dyer Most Passed To 1 Joe Cole
2 Nathan Dyer Most Passes From 1 Joe Cole
No comments:
Post a Comment