23/11/2013
17:30
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Chelsea
Goalscorers:
0-1 Frank Lampard 21'
0-2 Emboaba Oscar 34'
0-3 Frank Lampard 82'
Analysis
Sometimes, being a West Ham fan makes me despair.
As I wrote I would on Friday, I sat down at half past five on Saturday evening filled with optimism. I really felt that this was the sort of game that our players would be up for. The sort of game that you'd get a surprise result and turn your season right around.
Didn't really happen like that did it?
The first 20 minutes were pretty good. We kept the ball relatively well, kept Chelsea at an arms length, and appeared to be under no pressure. And then one of our most consistent and best performers since our promotion does something inexplicably poor, and it may as well have been game over from there.
Two games in a row we've given away penalties through needless, crucial errors. But more worryingly, two games in a row we've folded like a deck of cards after conceding the penalty.
In the opening 20 minutes, we put Chelsea under real pressure on the ball. We attempted 9 tackles, winning 7 of them, and we committed 2 fouls. The game was scrappy, and it looked like we were going to give them a real game.
But as soon as we conceded, our performance dropped incredibly. In the final 70 minutes, we only attempted 8 tackles, winning just 4 of them.
As a side, our confidence must be so dangerously fragile to collapse so quickly after a bad mistake.
The images below show our attempted tackles. The first image shows the first 20 minutes, and the second shows the last 70. You can see how our desire to win the ball back high up the pitch in midfield just evaporated after conceding. This meant Chelsea were on easy street after scoring, their midfield just able to knock the ball to one another under no pressure whatsoever.
Aside from the startling poor defensive performance from the team, we also created pretty much nothing.
We may have had 8 attempts on goal, but let's be honest, only one of those was ever really a chance that you'd say the player should've put away. When Modibo Maiga's stabbed effort from 6 yards trickled wide, we should have just packed up and gone home. (Though, in fairness to the Malian, the ball did deflect quite rapidly into his feet. Had Demel's pass not flicked off a defender he would've been able to put his foot through the ball, and not just deflect it goalward.)
What is really concerning, is that we managed just one shot on target all game. What's more, that shot on target came from left back for the day Joey O'Brien in the 94th minute, when the game was well and truly over.
The image below shows our attempts on goal.
The real issue for me, was the tactics. I wrote before the game about the impact Carlton Cole had against Chelsea last season and how the presence of a centre forward could bring the best out of our wingplay. Yet we saw Kevin Nolan continue up front, despite the fact the past few games have made it abundantly clear that he is not a striker.
Obviously the double substitution after 40 minutes is as big an admission of guilt as you'll see from a manager, but even those substitutions made little sense.
The introduction of Maiga as a striker was sensible (although there will be questions as to why Cole remained on the bench). But Joe Cole would have been an effective tool behind the front man, so his removal was confusing - particularly to bring Mohamed Diamé into a position that is has proven to be ineffective in.
I'm not going to say that Diamé should've started, because he's been poor all season. But it seems that he was introduced to give the side a bit more bite. A driving force to worry Chelsea. Putting him wide right meant he was never going to dominate play in the way we have seen him do for West Ham.
He made one attempted tackle, which was unsuccessful, he created no chances, his shooting was wasteful, and his crossing was woeful. His heat map below shows that he drifted over the pitch, struggling to get into the game. This meant we struggled to have an outlet down the right, and we also lacked Diamé's driving presence in the centre of the pitch.
I'm not going to look for a positive. We were awful.
Sam says we need to get at least 4 points against Fulham and Palace. I'd say we need 6.
We've not won back to back league games since we got promoted. Maybe it's about time we did?
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-3-3
(-34) Jussi Jääskeläinen - Petr Cech (29)
(-25) Guy Demel - Branislav Ivanovic (32)
(1) James Collins - Gary Cahill (51)
(12) James Tomkins - John Terry (47)
(-9) Joey O'Brien - Cesar Azpilicueta (28)
(32) Mark Noble - Ramires (-9)
(-6) Jack Collison - Jon Obi Mikel (13)
(-1) Joe Cole - Frank Lampard (101)
(10) Ravel Morrison - Emboaba Oscar (49)
(-1) Stewart Downing - Samuel Eto'o (12)
(-2) Kevin Nolan - Eden Hazard (51)
(-19) Modibo Maïga - Demba Ba (-3)
(14) Mohamed Diamé - Andre Schurrle (7)
(5) Matt Jarvis - Michael Essien (5)
Best Performance
(32) Mark Noble - Frank Lampard (101)
Worst Performance
(-34) Jussi Jääskeläinen - Ramires (-9)
46% Possession 54%
377 Passes Attempted 481
Mark Noble 79 Most Attempted 64 Jon Obi Mikel
79% Passing Accuracy 82%
65% In Opp. Half 73%
Mark Noble 92% Best Accuracy 94% Jon Obi Mikel
57 Long Balls 58
James Collins 9 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 9 Gary Cahill
Most Frequent Pass Combination
O'Brien to Downing 15 - 12 Terry to Mikel
14 Aerial Duels Won 12
54% Success 46%
Modibo Maïga 6 Most Won 4 John Terry
Mark Noble 97 Most Touches 80 Frank Lampard
Offensive Play
8 Attempts on Goal 20
1 On Target 8
4 Off Target 5
3 Blocked 7
2 From Outside the Box 9
Modbo Maïga 3 Most Shots 7 Frank Lampard
7 Key Passes 16
Guy Demel 2 Most Key Passes 5 Eden Hazard
25 Crosses 15
Stewart Downing 13 Most Attempted 6 Frank Lampard
4 Successful Crosses 5
16% Success 33%
Stewart Downing 2 Most Successful 2 Frank Lampard
Defensive Play
17 Tackles Attempted 19
11 Successful Tackles 14
65% Success 74%
James Collins 4 Most Tackles 7 Emboaba Oscar
40 Clearances 41
James Tomkins 12 Most Clearances 10 John Terry
9 Interceptions 9
Mark Noble 3 Most Interceptions 2 Cesar Azpilicueta
7 Shot Blocks 3
James Collins 4 Most Shot Blocks 1 John Terry
Discipline
12 Fouls 10
3 Most Fouls 3
0 Yellow Cards 0
West Ham United: n/a
Chelsea: n/a
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United: n/a
Chelsea: n/a
Head to Heads
Jussi Jääskeläinen vs Petr Cech
3 Goals Conceded 0
4 Saves 1
5 Claims 2
5 Successful Claims 2
100% Success 100%
13 Total Passes 19
3 Accurate Passes 8
23% Success 42%
10 Long Balls 16
77% % 84%
4 Throw Outs 3
3 Kick from Hand 1
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 1
Modibo Maiga 3 Most Passed To 6 Gary Cahill
Mark Noble 4 Most Passes From 4 John Terry
Guy Demel vs Branislav Ivanovic
2 Aerial Duels 3
2 Duels Won 2
100% Success 67%
2 Tackles Attempted 2
0 Tackles Completed 2
0% Success 100%
3 Clearances 5
2 Interceptions 0
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
1 Errors Leading to Goal 0
32 Passes Attempted 28
23 Successful 24
72% Success 86%
2 Crosses Attempted 3
0 Successful 1
0% Success 33%
2 Chances Created 1
0 Attempts on Goal 0
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
Mark Noble 7 Most Passed To 10 Gary Cahill
Mark Noble 7 Most Passes From 10 Ramires
Mark Noble vs Frank Lampard
79 Passes Attempted 55
73 Successful 47
92% Success 85%
0 Key Passes 4
0 Assists 0
0 Attempts on Goal 7
0 On Target 4
0 Goals 2
2 Tackles Attempted 3
2 Tackles Completed 2
100% Success 67%
2 Clearances 5
3 Interceptions 1
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Ravel Morrison 13 Most Passed To 11 Eden Hazard
Ravel Morrison 14 Most Passes From 11 Eden Hazard
Modibo Maïga vs Samuel Eto'o
3 Attempts on Goal 4
0 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
0 Key Passes 1
0 Assists 0
13 Passes Attempted 24
6 Successful 20
46% Success 83%
9 Aerial Duels 3
6 Duels Won 0
67% Success 0%
2 Ravel Morrison Most Passed To 8 Eden Hazard
3 Jussi Jääskeläinen Most Passes From 10 Eden Hazard
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