21/12/2013
15:00
Old Trafford
Manchester United vs West Ham United
Goalscorers:
1-0 Danny Welbeck 26'
2-0 Adnan Januzaj 36'
3-0 Ashley Young 72'
3-1 Carlton Cole 81'
Analysis
An away win at Old Trafford in the same week as an away win at White Hart Lane was always going to be a bit much to ask for, wasn't it?
The fact that United have been some way short of their previous high standards this season, didn't stop the way West Ham let the Red Devils play their own game, at their own pace, pretty much however they wanted.
I wrote before the game about the importance of our midfield dominating a real area of weakness in the Champions' side. Well, we didn't.
The absence of Mohamed Diamé from the central trio allowed Jones, Cleverley & Rooney all the time and space they needed to dictate a game that West Ham were never really in. Those three United midfielders - one of which is a striker, and one of which is a centre half, let's not forget - completed 189 passes between them, with a fantastic completion rate of 91%.
The image below shows what I believe is the key to our defeat. We attempted 22 tackles on Saturday afternoon, and were successful with just 7 of them. This is an astonishingly poor return, and this lack of effective pressure on the ball was, for me, the main reason behind our defeat.
The decision to play Diamé on the right of midfield is one I feel like I write about before and after every single game, but it was an issue again at the weekend.
I've already mentioned our lack of bite in the middle of the park against a makeshift United midfield - something Diamé would surely have helped prevent - but it wasn't just the Senegal captains tenacity that was missing.
By playing Diamé on the right, we also lost two of the more important weapons in our arsenal. Firstly, Diamé's ability to pick up the ball and run. These surging runs from midfield were a hallmark of our success last season, and would often see the team dragged higher up the pitch as a result. With Mo on the flank, we often lack the energy to get up the field and put any sustained pressure on the opposition.
The second mode of attack we miss out on with Diamé on the wings, is the ability to create chances from out wide. Throughout this Premier League season, Mo has attempted 32 crosses, and has found a team mate just 6 times. He makes a successful cross just 0.4 times per game.
This really isn't one of his skills, and this was again demonstrated on Saturday. The image below shows Diamé's attempted crosses.
The final person I'd like to focus on is Ravel Morrison.
Saturday saw the young midfielder return to Old Trafford for the first time since he joined us back in January 2011.
Unfortunately for Ravel, he won't have had the impact or result that he wanted, but his performance was still of a pretty high standard.
He completed 90% of his 40 passes, made one successful tackle, and completed 2 out of three attempted take ons (successfully tricking his way past England internationals Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney).
Ravel worked very hard, and was a small highlight on an otherwise gloomy afternoon for West Ham. The image below shows his heat map, highlighting how he got himself involved all over the pitch, on a day that must have meant a lot to the Mancunian.
There were other things I could've focussed on - such as the unexpected decision to hand Adrian his Premier League debut at the expense of last weekends man of the match, Jussi Jaaskelainen. Or the decision to go to 4-4-2 without any wide players for the second time this season.
But for me, we lost the game in the middle of the park. And that isn't good enough.
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-2-3-1
(5) David de Gea - Adrian San Miguel (-19)
(21) Rafael da Silva - Guy Demel (2)
(22) Chris Smalling - James Collins (-33)
(30) Jonny Evans - James Tomkins (-13)
(-1) Patrice Evra - George McCartney (-16)
(60) Phil Jones - Mark Noble (-19)
(37) Tom Cleverley - Matthew Taylor (1)
(1) Antonio Valencia - Mohamed Diamé (-22)
(80) Wayne Rooney - Ravel Morrison (14)
(42) Adnan Januzaj - Matt Jarvis (-12)
(41) Danny Welbeck - Modibo Maïga (1)
(19) Javier Hernandez - Jack Collison (-5)
(49) Ashley Young - Carlton Cole (28)
(-15) Alexander Buttner - Rǎzvan Raţ (1)
Best Performance
(80) Wayne Rooney - Carlton Cole (28)
Worst Performance
(-15) Alexander Buttner - James Collins (-33)
60% Possession 40%
506 Passes Attempted 295
Wayne Roney 81 Most Attempted 54 Mark Noble
88% Passing Accuracy 76%
79% In Opp. Half 59%
Tom Cleverley 98% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 90% Ravel Morrison
57 Long Balls 72
Wayne Rooney 17 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 8 James Collins
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Rafael to Valencia 19 - 9 Noble to Demel
16 Aerial Duels Won 11
59% Success 41%
Chris Smalling 4 Most Won 6 James Tomkins
Wayne Rooney 104 Most Touches 59 Mark Noble
Offensive Play
21 Attempts on Goal 4
8 On Target 1
6 Off Target 1
7 Blocked 2
7 From Outside the Box 2
Adnan Januzaj 5 Most Shots 1 Carlton Cole
16 Key Passes 3
Wayne Rooney 6 Most Key Passes 2 Modibo Maïga
24 Crosses 17
Wayne Rooney 7 Most Attempted 5 Mohamed Diamé
5 Successful Crosses 4
21% Success 24%
Wayne Rooney 2 Most Successful 1 Mohamed Diamé
Defensive Play
20 Tackles Attempted 22
8 Successful Tackles 7
40% Success 32%
Adnan Januzaj 2 Most Tackles 4 Mohamed Diamé
34 Clearances 23
Chris Smalling 9 Most Clearances 10 James Tomkins
13 Interceptions 4
Phil Jones 3 Most Interceptions 2 Guy Demel
2 Shot Blocks 7
Tom Cleverley 1 Most Shot Blocks 2 Rǎzvan Raţ
Discipline
7 Fouls 16
2 Most Fouls 4
1 Yellow Cards 4
Manchester United: Adnan Januzaj
West Ham United: Ravel Morrison, Matt Jarvis, James Tomkins, George McCartney
0 Red Cards 0
Manchester United: n/a
West Ham United: n/a
Head to Heads
David de Gea vs Adrian San Miguel
1 Goals Conceded 3
0 Saves 4
3 Claims 6
3 Successful Claims 6
100% Success 100%
23 Total Distribution 34
17 Accurate 13
74% Success 38%
5 Goal Kicks 10
5 Accurate 4
100% Success 40%
1 Throw Outs 4
1 Accurate 4
100% Success 100%
2 Kick from Hand 9
0 Accurate 1
0% Success 11%
15 Other 11
11 Accurate 4
73% Success 36%
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Jonny Evans 5 Most Passed To 3 Mark Noble
Chris Smalling 2 Most Passes From 3 James Tomkins
Chris Smalling vs James Tomkins
4 Aerial Duels 6
4 Duels Won 5
100% Success 83%
1 Tackles Attempted 1
0 Tackles Completed 0
0% Success 0%
9 Clearances 10
1 Interceptions 0
1 Blocks 1
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
40 Passes Attempted 33
37 Successful 25
93% Success 76%
0 Crosses Attempted 0
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
0 Chances Created 0
1 Attempts on Goal 0
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
Jonny Evans 8 Most Passed To 6 Mark Noble
Phil Jones 7 Most Passes From 7 Mark Noble
Wayne Rooney vs Ravel Morrison
81 Passes Attempted 40
69 Successful 36
85% Success 90%
6 Key Passes 0
2 Assists 0
2 Attempts on Goal 1
1 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
2 Tackles Attempted 2
1 Tackles Completed 1
50% Success 50%
3 Clearances 1
2 Interceptions 1
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Jonny Evans 13 Most Passed To 6 Mark Noble
Tom Cleverley 11 Most Passes From 7 George McCartney
Danny Welbeck vs Modibo Maïga
1 Attempts on Goal 1
1 On Target 0
1 Goals 0
1 Key Passes 2
0 Assists 1
11 Passes Attempted 14
9 Successful 10
82% Success 71%
0 Aerial Duels 9
0 Duels Won 2
0% Success 22%
5 Wayne Rooney Most Passed To 3 Mohamed Diamé
3 Adnan Januzaj Most Passes From 3 Mark Noble
