30/11/2013
15:00
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Fulham
Goalscorers:
1-0 Mohamed Diamé 47'
2-0 Carlton Cole 82'
3-0 Joe Cole 88'
2-0 Carlton Cole 82'
3-0 Joe Cole 88'
Analysis
In arguably our most important game of the season so far, West Ham came through with flying colours. A three nil win against a club in a very similar position to us was exactly what the doctor ordered.
West Ham were excellent throughout. Yes, it would've been nicer to get that all important second goal a bit earlier. Yes, the second half was incredibly nerve racking. But the truth is, every one of our players put a real performance in.
Stewart Downing has (rightly) been named as man of the match. Kevin Nolan looked more like himself in his proper position. Modibo Maiga put in his best performance of the season. Mark Noble easily outperformed his former midfield partner Scott Parker.
But I want to concentrate on the performances of three players in particular.
Firstly, the return of George McCartney.
The former Northern Ireland fullback's return to the first team was not expected to be in this game, particularly at the expense of the ever reliable Joey O'Brien. But the decision to bring McCartney into the side proved a masterstroke.
McCartney completed 85% of his passes, won 2 headed duels, made 4 clearances, and even managed to successful take on and beat Elsad Zverotic.
The balance of having a left footed fullback worked wonders for the side, and McCartney showed that his injury problems haven't affected his engine. His heat map below shows how heavily involved he was in the game, up and down the left flank.
http://epl.squawka.com/west-ham-united-vs-fulham/
The second player I want to focus on is Mohamed Diamé.
The Senegal midfielder was one of our stand out performers last season, but has struggled this term, in and out of the side, and rarely playing in his preferred central position. On Saturday though, Sam Allardyce returned Diamé to his favoured position, and reaped the rewards.
Mo completed 88% of his passes, successfully took on a defender 4 out of 6 times, won 83% of his 6 attempted tackles, and even got the (fortunate) goal that set us on our way. His performance was back to what we saw last season, and he was absolutely everywhere - as shown by his heat map below.
The final performance I wanted to look at was Ravel Morrison's cameo.
It was a little bit of a shock to see the England under 21 starlet on the bench against Fulham, but it seems Sam Allardyce made the right decision. Dropping Ravel to the bench allowed for Mohamed Diamé to return to the middle of the park, and also meant that Morrison came on with 15 minutes to go against some pretty tired Fulham legs.
And he was exceptional.
He completed 100% of his passes, made one successful tackle, and attempted 5 take ons, with an 80% success rate. His through ball to set Stewart Downing free for Carlton Cole's goal was absolutely wonderful, but it was his assist for Joe Cole's goal in the closing minutes that will stand out.
Below is the goal map for the third goal. After a little bit of keep ball on the half way line, Ravel picked up the ball in the centre circle (I've circled where he picked up the ball in red). He then ran. He went by Bryan Ruiz and Elsad Zverotic as if they weren't there, and had the presence of mind to roll the ball into the path of Joe Cole to smash home a wonderful third.
It was an outstanding assist, and just a glimpse of what this young man is capable of.
West Ham were excellent throughout. Yes, it would've been nicer to get that all important second goal a bit earlier. Yes, the second half was incredibly nerve racking. But the truth is, every one of our players put a real performance in.
Stewart Downing has (rightly) been named as man of the match. Kevin Nolan looked more like himself in his proper position. Modibo Maiga put in his best performance of the season. Mark Noble easily outperformed his former midfield partner Scott Parker.
But I want to concentrate on the performances of three players in particular.
Firstly, the return of George McCartney.
The former Northern Ireland fullback's return to the first team was not expected to be in this game, particularly at the expense of the ever reliable Joey O'Brien. But the decision to bring McCartney into the side proved a masterstroke.
McCartney completed 85% of his passes, won 2 headed duels, made 4 clearances, and even managed to successful take on and beat Elsad Zverotic.
The balance of having a left footed fullback worked wonders for the side, and McCartney showed that his injury problems haven't affected his engine. His heat map below shows how heavily involved he was in the game, up and down the left flank.
The second player I want to focus on is Mohamed Diamé.
The Senegal midfielder was one of our stand out performers last season, but has struggled this term, in and out of the side, and rarely playing in his preferred central position. On Saturday though, Sam Allardyce returned Diamé to his favoured position, and reaped the rewards.
Mo completed 88% of his passes, successfully took on a defender 4 out of 6 times, won 83% of his 6 attempted tackles, and even got the (fortunate) goal that set us on our way. His performance was back to what we saw last season, and he was absolutely everywhere - as shown by his heat map below.
The final performance I wanted to look at was Ravel Morrison's cameo.
It was a little bit of a shock to see the England under 21 starlet on the bench against Fulham, but it seems Sam Allardyce made the right decision. Dropping Ravel to the bench allowed for Mohamed Diamé to return to the middle of the park, and also meant that Morrison came on with 15 minutes to go against some pretty tired Fulham legs.
And he was exceptional.
He completed 100% of his passes, made one successful tackle, and attempted 5 take ons, with an 80% success rate. His through ball to set Stewart Downing free for Carlton Cole's goal was absolutely wonderful, but it was his assist for Joe Cole's goal in the closing minutes that will stand out.
Below is the goal map for the third goal. After a little bit of keep ball on the half way line, Ravel picked up the ball in the centre circle (I've circled where he picked up the ball in red). He then ran. He went by Bryan Ruiz and Elsad Zverotic as if they weren't there, and had the presence of mind to roll the ball into the path of Joe Cole to smash home a wonderful third.
It was an outstanding assist, and just a glimpse of what this young man is capable of.
So we play Palace tomorrow. The elation of a victorious London derby could be doubled if we can get a result tomorrow night.
If we perform as we did on Saturday, I've no doubt that we'll be storming up the table again.
If we perform as we did on Saturday, I've no doubt that we'll be storming up the table again.
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-4-1-1
(20) Jussi Jääskeläinen - Maarten Stekelenburg (-4)
(20) Guy Demel - Elsad Zverotic (-41)
(23) James Collins - Aaron Hughes (6)
(66) James Tomkins - Fernando Amorebieta (14)
(-7) George McCartney - Kieran Richardson (-26)
(21) Mark Noble - Pajtim Kasami (-39)
(36) Mohamed Diamé - Steve Sidwell (-16)
(60) Stewart Downing - Scott Parker (7)
(34) Kevin Nolan - Damien Duff (6)
(-12) Matt Jarvis - Adel Taarabt (11)
(15) Modibo Maiga - Darren Bent (-9)
(35) Joe Cole - Bryan Ruiz (10)
(53) Ravel Morrison - Giorgos Karagounis (3)
(33) Carlton Cole - Moussa Dembele (1)
Best Performance
(66) James Tomkins - Fernando Amorebieta (14)
Worst Performance
(-12) Matt Jarvis - Elsad Zverotic (-41)
48% Possession 52%
358 Passes Attempted 399
Mark Noble 70 Most Attempted 67 Scott Parker
78% Passing Accuracy 77%
67% In Opp. Half 70%
Stewart Downing 96% Best Accuracy 93% Giorgos Karagounis
60 Long Balls 58
Mark Noble 12 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 6 Elsad Zverotic
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Demel to Downing 12 - 14 Parker to Taarabt
38 Aerial Duels Won 28
58% Success 42%
James Tomkins 14 Most Won 12 Fernando Amorebieta
Mark Noble 94 Most Touches 83 Scott Parker
Offensive Play
23 Attempts on Goal 10
12 On Target 0
12 On Target 0
9 Off Target 5
2 Blocked 5
9 From Outside the Box 9
Modbo Maïga 4 Most Shots 3 Pajtim Kasami
21 Key Passes 7
Stewart Downing 4 Most Key Passes 2 Scott Parker
38 Crosses 14
Stewart Downing 14 Most Attempted 4 Damien Duff
10 Successful Crosses 3
26% Success 21%
Stewart Downing 5 Most Successful 1 Steve Sidwell
Defensive Play
23 Tackles Attempted 11
16 Successful Tackles 9
70% Success 82%
Mohamed Diamé 6 Most Tackles 3 Pajtim Kasami
41 Clearances 49
James Tomkins 21 Most Clearances 19 Fernando Amorebieta
7 Interceptions 6
Kevin Nolan 3 Most Interceptions 1 Steve Sidwell
5 Shot Blocks 2
James Collins 5 Most Shot Blocks 2 Scott Parker
Discipline
12 Fouls 8
Kevin Nolan 2 Most Fouls 4 Steve Sidwell
3 Yellow Cards 2
West Ham United: James Tomkins, Mohamed Diamé, George McCartney
Fulham: Kieran Richardson, Steve Sidwell
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United: n/a
Chelsea: n/a
Head to Heads
Jussi Jääskeläinen vs Maarten Stekelenburg
0 Goals Conceded 3
0 Saves 8
1 Claims 5
1 Successful Claims 5
100% Success 100%
8 Total Passes 21
1 Accurate Passes 6
13% Success 29%
7 Long Balls 17
88% % 81%
2 Throw Outs 9
1 Kick from Hand 4
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
George McCartney 2 Most Passed To 4 Aaron Hughes
James Collins 1 Most Passes From 3 Aaron Hughes
James Tomkins vs Fernando Amorebieta
16 Aerial Duels 15
14 Duels Won 12
88% Success 8-%
3 Tackles Attempted 0
3 Tackles Completed 0
100% Success 0%
21 Clearances 22
0 Interceptions 1
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
30 Passes Attempted 21
21 Successful 11
70% Success 52%
0 Crosses Attempted 0
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
1 Chances Created 0
1 Attempts on Goal 0
1 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
George McCartney 5 Most Passed To 3 Maarten Stekelenburg
George McCartney 7 Most Passes From 4 Maarten Stekelenburg
Mark Noble vs Scott Parker
70 Passes Attempted 66
55 Successful 58
79% Success 88%
2 Key Passes 2
0 Assists 0
1 Attempts on Goal 1
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
5 Tackles Attempted 1
2 Tackles Completed 1
40% Success 100%
0 Clearances 0
3 Interceptions 0
0 Blocks 2
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Stewart Downing 9 Most Passed To 14 Adel Taarabt
Guy Demel 9 Most Passes From 13 Adel Taarabt
Modibo Maïga vs Darren Bent
4 Attempts on Goal00
2 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
1 Key Passes 1
0 Assists 0
22 Passes Attempted 25
11 Successful 11
50% Success 73%
20 Aerial Duels 14
9 Duels Won 1
45% Success 7%
5 Stewart Downing Most Passed To 3 Scott Parker
7 Mark Noble Most Passes From 4 Adel Taarabt
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