05/10/2014
16:15
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Queens Park Rangers
Goalscorers:
1-0 Nedum Onuoha OG 5'
2-0 Diafra Sakho 59'
Analysis
Another weekend, another attacking line up and performance!
Sunday saw West Ham expertly dispatch Queens Park Rangers in a London derby featuring a host of familiar faces, though most for the other team.
Interviewers after the game on Sunday afternoon asked Harry Redknapp if the difficulty his side was experiencing was down to trying to gel so many new players into his side. What they failed to notice, is that 7 of West Ham's starting 11 were not with the club last season.
Positives
To be honest, I don't actually think we played all that fluidly yesterday. The side wasn't as well balanced as it has been recently, and I think that showed in our forward play. However, what we did see was a seriously hard working performance from everyone in claret and blue.
When you see a line up with so many forward thinking players - the midfield diamond included two wingers and a striker - you don't often expect to see the work rate that West Ham displayed.
Let's start with those wingers.
Stewart Downing and Morgan Amalfitano took up the two roles in the middle of midfield that require some serious legs. Cheik Kouyaté, Mark Noble and Alex Song have all played in that role admirably this season, but all are far more defensive minded players than Downing and Amalfitano.
But take a look at their combined heat map below. The pair of them were absolutely everywhere, getting wide and into advanced areas, whilst also putting in some serious graft in the middle of the park and supporting the fullbacks.
And this protection and effort in front of the fullbacks enabled Aaron Cresswell and full debutant Carl Jenkinson the licence to roam high up the park, using their pace and energy to cause menace down the flanks.
Again, the image below shows the combined involvement of the two Englishmen. You can clearly see that both were heavily involved in all thirds, bombing forward with great regularity.
The final example of great workmanship comes from the front.
Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho were not particularly involved going forward on Sunday. Sakho attempted just 14 passes throughout, and Ecuadorian Valencia attempted just 17.
However, what they both did was work. Really hard. The image below shows their combined tackles from the game. Bear in mind that these two are strikers, and you see how hard they work for the team. Neither of them ever stop hassling and chasing opposition defenders down, and both are more than happy to drop back to support the midfield and defence.
In essence, having Sakho and Valencia as your forwards enables the team to very quickly switch from a 4-4-2 Diamond to a 4-6-0.
Negatives
As I mentioned above, our attacking play didn't quite seem to click against QPR.
Given the creativity in our side, with the likes of Downing, Amalfitano and Mauro Zárate (who had a very good game, by the way), it was disappointing that we only managed to create five chances.
Instead, we tended to opt for crosses into the box with great regularity.
In total, we attempted 31 crosses during the game, with just 3 meeting a team mate. The tactic at times appear to be to isolate either of Sakho and Valencia in the air against the opposition fullback. However, QPR seemed prepared for that, with Nedum Onuoha replacing the aerially vulnerable Mauricio Isla in the side, and Armand Traoré more than capable of holding his own in the air.
Key Player
I thought for a while about who to pick as my key player. I voted for James Tomkins as man of the match, I thought both fullbacks were excellent, and, as mentioned, Zárate was very good in the hole.
However, my key man was probably stand in skipper Alex Song.
In the absence of Noble and Kouyaté, Song had a huge amount of ground to cover and work to put in, particularly as he was surrounded by forward thinking players. And he absolutely did not shirk his responsibility.
Song won 3 of his 5 tackles, made 3 interceptions, 2 clearances, and blocked one shot. The image below shows the tackles (left) and interceptions he made.
But what Song really provided was a platform allowing the rest of the team to play.
When Mark Noble isn't in the side, we sometimes struggle to recycle possession efficiently, enabling us to take a breather and keep hold of the ball for a passage of play. Song though, is more than capable of filling this role, keeping the side ticking in possession, and displaying a great range of passing when required.
It was a real captains performance on Sunday, and, for me, the game was as comfortable as it was because of the all round performance and calming influence of Alex Song.
Conclusion
This was an important game and result for West Ham. We won our last home game against Liverpool, but had lost all other games at the Boleyn this season.
This was a totally different challenge to the Liverpool game. Against the Reds we were the underdogs, expected to lose, but energised to put in a top performance. Against QPR, we were expected to win. That's a different challenge, and one we came through very comfortably.
It wasn't a vintage performance, but it was another good one, and a nice way to go into an international break.
General Play
4-1-2-1-2 Formation 4-5-1
(37) Adrián - Rob Green (-1)
(34) Carl Jenkinson - Nedum Onuoha (23)
(46) James Tomkins - Steven Caulker (21)
(42) Winston Reid - Rio Ferdinand (0)
(0) Aaron Cresswell - Armand Traore (24)
(29) Alex Song - Junior Hoilett (2)
(-14) Morgan Amalfitano - Karl Henry (12)
(14) Stewart Downing - Sandro (0)
(15) Mauro Zárate - Leroy Fer (20)
(-10) Diafra Sakho - Niko Kranjcar (-6)
(-24) Enner Valencia - Charlie Austin (-18)
(-2) Kevin Nolan - Bobby Zamora (13)
(-1) Matt Jarvis - Adel Taarabt (6)
- Jordan Mutch (12)
Best Performance
(46) James Tomkins - Armand Traore (24)
Worst Performance
(-24) Enner Valencia - Charlie Austin (-18)
50% Possession 50%
381 Passes Attempted 414
Stewart Downing 57 Most Attempted 53 Nedum Onuoha
79% Passing Accuracy 79%
56% In Opp. Half 66%
Carl Jenkinson 84% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 94% Leroy Fer
57 Long Balls 57
15% % Long Balls 14%
Aaron Cresswell 16 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 9 Steven Caulker
Most Frequent Pass Combination
Downing to Cresswell 17 - 11 Onuoha to Henry
10 Aerial Duels Won 18
36% Success 64%
James Tomkins 5 Most Won 4 Rio Ferdinand
James Tomkins 82 Most Touches 84 Nedum Onuoha
Offensive Play
11 Attempts on Goal 10
3 On Target 3
5 Off Target 3
3 Blocked 4
27% From Outside the Box 70%
Enner Valencia 3 Most Shots 3 Nedum Onuoha
5 Chances Created 8
Mauro Zárate 2 Most Chances Created 4 Bobby Zamora
31 Crosses 16
Morgan Amalfitano 6 Most Attempted 6 Niko Kranjcar
3 Successful Crosses 4
10% Success 25%
Mauro Zárate 2 Most Successful 2 Niko Kranjcar
10 Take Ons Attempted 14
3 Successful Take Ons 7
30% Success 50%
Mauro Zárate 1 Most Successful Take Ons 2 Junior Hoilett
Defensive Play
34 Tackles Attempted 28
13 Successful Tackles 17
38% Success 61%
Enner Valencia 4 Most Tackles 6 Karl Henry
36 Clearances 50
James Tomkins 10 Most Clearances 15 Rio Ferdinand
17 Interceptions 12
James Tomkins 5 Most Interceptions 4 Armand Traore
4 Shot Blocks 3
Aaron Cresswell 3 Most Shot Blocks 1 Sandro
Discipline
10 Fouls 11
Enner Valencia 2 Most Fouls 3 Niko Kranjcar
3 Yellow Cards 3
West Ham United: James Tomkins, Aaron Cresswell
Queens Park Rangers: Sandro, Karl Henry
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United:
Queens Park Rangers:
Head to Heads
Adrián vs Rob Green
37 Squawka Rating -1
0 Goals Conceded 2
3 Saves 2
2 Claims 1
2 Successful Claims 1
100% Success 100%
31 Total Distribution 35
15 Accurate 21
48% Success 60%
7 Goal Kicks 11
1 Accurate 5
14% Success 45%
1 Throw Outs 9
1 Accurate 9
100% Success 100%
4 Kick from Hand 0
1 Accurate 0
25% Success 0%
19 Other 15
12 Accurate 7
63% Success 47%
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Winston Reid 3 Most Passed To 5 Nedum Onuoha
Winston Reid 5 Most Passes From 4 Armand Traore
James Tomkins vs Steven Caulker
46 Squawka Rating 21
9 Aerial Duels 2
5 Duels Won 1
56% Success 50%
3 Tackles Attempted 0
1 Tackles Completed 0
33% Success 0%
10 Clearances 12
5 Interceptions 3
0 Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
27 Passes Attempted 36
21 Successful 29
78% Success 81%
0 Crosses Attempted 0
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
0 Chances Created 0
2 Attempts on Goal 0
1 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
Carl Jenkinson 5 Most Passed To 11 Nedum Onuoha
Carl Jenkinson 8 Most Passes From 8 Nedum Onuoha
Alex Song vs Sandro
29 Squawka Rating 0
55 Passes Attempted 37
44 Successful 32
80% Success 86%
0 Chances Created 0
0 Assists 0
0 Attempts on Goal 0
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
4 Take Ons Attempted 0
1 Take Ons Successful 0
25% Success 0%
0 Crosses Attempted 0
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
5 Tackles Attempted 4
3 Tackles Completed 3
60% Success 75%
2 Clearances 1
3 Interceptions 0
1 Blocks 1
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Carl Jenkinson 10 Most Passed To 8 Niko Kranjcar
Carl Jenkinson 12 Most Passes From 5 Niko Kranjcar
Diafra Sakho vs Bobby Zamora
-10 Squawka Rating 13
1 Attempts on Goal 0
1 On Target 0
1 Goals 0
46 Involvement 31
7 in Penalty Area 0
15% % Penalty Area 0%
0 Chances Created 4
0 Assists 0
14 Passes Attempted 21
10 Successful 12
71% Success 57%
1 Take Ons 0
1 Successful Take Ons 0
100% Success 0%
7 Aerial Duels 4
1 Duels Won 2
14% Success 50%
Morgan Amalfitano 2 Most Passed To 4 Adel Taarabt
Aaron Cresswell 5 Most Passes From 4 Steven Caulker
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