Saturday
1st February 2014
15:00
Boleyn
Ground
West
Ham United vs Swansea City
Analysis
This
is the big one.
The
point well-earned against Chelsea on Wednesday night was a bonus. This is the
big one. This is the one we need to get some points from.
Swansea
City are not a team you’d usually want to play when you need to get three
points from a game, but they have been in stuttering form in recent time. Like
West Ham, the Swans have suffered from an injury list as long as their playing
squad and their form has suffered as a result. Prior to Tuesday’s comfortable
win over Fulham, Swansea had gone eight Premier League games without a win, a
run that stretched back to the start of December against Newcastle United.
So
what do we need to watch out for? Well, we know that Michael Laudrup’s side
will keep the ball, and that we won’t have much possession.
The
tika-taka style approach is well known now the Welsh side are in their third
Premier League season, but it is something that teams still struggle to deal
with. Swansea have had had more than 50% of the ball in every one of their
league games this season, with the least ball they’ve seen in a match a
whopping 51%.
Against
Newcastle United in December, the Jacks had 59% of the game, and completed an
incredible 91% of their passes. The image below shows their passing map from
that game. It’s almost impossible to pick anything out on there, but it gives a
clear indication of the style they will take on Saturday lunchtime: keep the
ball, no matter what.
We
all know about the slow, methodical, patient passing game that Swansea employ.
We know that they can pass a team to tears. But what Swansea have struggled
with at times is the ability to change the pass and press forward as a team.
For
me, the most important player in the Swansea site is Jonathan De Guzman. The
Dutchman is equally capable of holding on to the ball as his midfield
colleagues, but, unlike the likes of Leon Britton, De Guzman is always keen to
get the ball forward.
In 19
appearances this season, De Guzman has averaged a passing accuracy of 90%,
attempted to take on a man 19 times, and has had 24 attempts on goal. But the
most important aspect of his game is that he has managed to create 34 chances,
registering 4 assists so far this season. This means the Netherlands
international has created a chance once every 41.7 minutes – an improvement on
last season’s rate of one every 48.3 minutes.
The
image below shows De Guzman’s most creative performance so far this season.
Against Fulham, he created four goal scoring opportunities for his teammates.
What is interesting is that 3 of the chances he created came from out wide,
crossing into the box. And that is where De Guzman offers a slightly different
approach. 61.7% of the chances he has created have come from the right wing.
And
when De Guzman creates those chances, there is one man the Swans want to be on
the receiving end.
I’ll
admit, I was one of the people who weren’t overly keen on the prospect of
Wilfried Bony signing for West Ham in the summer, thinking that the step up
from Dutch football may be too much. Clearly, that wasn’t true.
The
Ivorian has managed 16 goals in 31 games for Swansea so for, with a decent
record of 7 in 19 Premier League games. And after something of goal drought (no
goals in seven games), he has been back amongst the goals recently with four in
his last five appearances in all competitions.
The
image below shows the league goals Bony has scored this season. With the
exception of one long range effort against Manchester City, Bony has been a bit
of a ‘fox in the box’.
After
a very important point midweek, a couple of potential transfers on deadline day
and a weekend victory would nicely round off the week for the club. A win could
see us leapfrog Sunderland and Stoke City, and put us within touching distance
of Saturday’s opposition in 11th place.
Head
to Head
46%
Head to Head Win % 30%
26
Won 17
13
Drawn 13
17
Lost 26
107
Goals Scored 73
73
Goals Conceded 107
Recent
Form
L L W
L L D Last 6 L W L L W W
3
Goals Scored 9
17
Goals Conceded 10
W D L
D L L Home/Away Form D L D W L W
8
Goals Scored 6
12
Goals Conceded 7
Form
Player (Last 6 League)
Mark
Noble - Jonathan De Guzman
6
Appearances 4
482
Minutes Played 297
108
Sum Squawka Performance Score 210
18
Average Squawka Performance Rating 53
222
Passes Attempted 281
183
Completed 249
82%
Success Rate 89%
7
Chances Created 11
0
Assists 2
6
Attempts on Goal 7
2 On
Target 4
1
Goals 0
4
Take Ons Attempted 4
3
Successful Take Ons 2
75%
Success Rate 50%
25
Tackles Made 8
10
Successful Tackles 5
40%
Success Rate 63%
14
Interceptions 4
13
Clearances 2
5
Blocks 0
5
Defensive Actions Per Game 2
2
Aerial Duels 4
1 Won
2
50%
Success Rate 50%
1
Defensive Errors 0
0
Leading to a Goal 0
Last
Meeting
27
October 2013
4-6-0
Starting Formation 4-2-3-1
Jussi
Jääskeläinen - Michel Vorm
Guy
Demel - Angel Rangel
James
Tomkins - Chico Flores
Winston
Reid - Ashley Williams
Rǎzvan
Raţ - Neil Taylor
Mark
Noble - Leon Britton
Kevin
Nolan - Jonathan de Guzman
Stewart
Downing - Nathan Dyer
(64')
Mohamed Diamé - Miguel Michu
(78')
Ravel Morrison - Wayne Routledge (61')
(35')
Ricardo Vâz Te - Alvaro Vazquez (66')
Subs
Adrian
San Miguel - Gerhard Tremmel
Joey
O'Brien - Jordi Amat
(35')
Matt Jarvis - Dwight Tiendalli
Matthew
Taylor - Jose Canas
(78')
Joe Cole - Pablo Hernandez (61')
Modibo
Maïga - Alejandro Pozuelo
(64')
Carlton Cole - Wilfried Bony (66')
Absentees
Injured/Doubtful
West
Ham United: Winston Reid, Joey O'Brien, Mohamed Diamé, Joe Cole
Swansea
City: Michel Vorm, Garry Monk, Jose Canas, Miguel Michu
Suspensions
West
Ham United: n/a
Swansea
City: n/a
Opposition
Last Time Out (League)
vs Fulham
Goals
Scored: 2
Goals
Conceded: 0
Starting
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Gerhard
Tremmel
Angel
Rangel Chico
Flores Ashley
Williams Ben
Davies
Leon
Britton Jonathan
de Guzman (88')
Pablo
Hernandez (58') Jonjo
Shelvey (79') Wayne
Routledge
Wilfried
Bony
subs:
David Cornell
Jordi
Amat (79')
Neil
Taylor
Alex
Pozuelo (88')
Nathan
Dyer (58')
Roland
Lamah
Alvaro
Vazquez
Best
Player: Chico Flores
Squawka
Rating: 93
Worst
Player: Wilfried Bony
Squawka
Rating: -14
Top
5's (Min 5 Apps)
Goals
Scored
Carlton
Cole 4 - 7 Wilfried Bony
Joe
Cole 3 - 4 Nathan Dyer
Ravel
Morrison 3 - 4 Jonjo Shelvey
Ricardo
Vâz Te 2 - 2 Miguel Michu
Kevin
Nolan 2 - 2 Ben Davies
Assists
Kevin
Nolan 4 - 4 Jonathan de Guzman
Matt
Jarvis 3 - 3 Pablo Hernandez
Modibo
Maïga 2 - 3 Jonjo Shelvey
Ravel
Morrison 2 - 2 Roland Lamah
Andy
Carroll 1 - 2 Wayne Routledge
Passing
Accuracy
Ravel
Morrison 86% - 92% Dwight Tiendalli
Mark
Noble 84% - 91% Jose Canas
Stewart
Downing 82% - 91% Leon Britton
Jack
Collison 81% - 90% Chico Flores
Joe
Cole 80% - 90% Jonathan de Guzman
Chances
Created per game
Stewart
Downing 1.8 - 1.8 Jonathan de Guzman
Mark
Noble 1.6 - 1.7 Miguel Michu
Matt
Jarvis 1.2 - 1.5 Pablo Hernandez
Kevin
Nolan 0.9 - 1.3 Jonjo Shelvey
Modibo
Maïga 0.9 - 1.3 Roland Lamah
Successful
Dribbles per game
Ravel
Morrison 2.1 - 1.6 Nathan Dyer
Mohamed
Diamé 2 - 1.5 Pablo Hernandez
Mark
Noble 1.3 - 1.4 Roland Lamah
Stewart
Downing 0.9 - 0.9 Jonjo Shelvey
Guy
Demel 0.8 - 0.8 Alex Pozuelo
Tackles
per game
Mark
Noble 2.5 - 2.5 Jordi Amat
Mohamed
Diamé 2.5 - 2.4 Chico Flores
Winston
Reid 2.4 - 2.4 Angel Rangel
James
Collins 2 - 2 Jose Canas
Kevin
Nolan 1.7 - 2 Ben Davies
Aerial
Duels Won per game
Modibo
Maïga 5.9 - 2.8 Ashley Williams
James
Tomkins 4.4 - 2.7 Chico Flores
James
Collins 3.6 - 2.5 Wilfried Bony
Winston
Reid 3.2 - 2 Ben Davies
Carlton
Cole 2.5 - 1.4 Miguel Michu
Manager
Sam
Allardyce - Michael Laudrup
39.6%
Current Club Win % 34.9%
48
Won 29
32
Drawn 24
41
Lost 30
39.7%
Managerial Career Win % 44.5%
342
Won 147
231
Drawn 83
288
Lost 100
2
League Titles 1
0 Cup
Wins 4
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