22/02/2014
15:00
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Southampton
Goalscorers:
0-1 Maya Yoshida 8'
1-1 Matt Jarvis 20'
2-1 Carlton Cole 23'
3-1 Kevin Nolan 71'
Analysis
Didn't see that coming!
After a fabulous February, we now sit joint top of the form table with Liverpool, having collected 13 points from our last 5 games. A remarkable return for a side that had managed just 18 points in the first 22 games of the season.
I said before the game, and I'm happy to admit it again and again, that I'm a big fan of the way Southampton play football. I like the triangles, but I like that they have more intent than the likes of Swansea City.
However, you've got to hand it to him, Sam Allardyce knew exactly how to deal with them on Saturday afternoon. Usually I pick out a few players who impressed me, but Saturday was all about the tactics.
Okay, so Southampton had about 70% of the possession. But what did they do with it? West Ham were happy to let the Saints have the ball and sit and wait for the opportunity to break. Despite possessing some wonderfully creative players, they didn't know how to get through our stubborn defence (and isn't it funny that the only way they managed to score was from a set piece and header? 19th century football, that is!).
Look at the heat maps below.
You can see that we were most busy in our own area (first chart), but look at how little possession Southampton had in our box. Essentially, they had as much ball as they wanted up to the 18 yard line, and then if they entered the box, we took over.
When West Ham did have the ball, there was a clear plan of attack too. Adam Lallana is a very gifted footballer, there's no disputing that. However, playing him off the right flank leaves the right back very exposed, and a young fullback like Calum Chambers is a vulnerable target for an experienced left wing pairing like George McCartney and Stewart Downing.
The charts below show the average positions for each side. As you can see, Lallana (#20) was very central for Southampton, leaving Chambers (#22) as the lone representative down the right wing for the Saints.
As a result, West Ham were able to target the left channel to build pressure during the game, with 53% of our attacks coming from that side.
I think possibly the most obvious contrast between the two sides style of play was demonstrated by the two left backs.
Again, nobody is disputing that Luke Shaw is going to be a fantastic left back, and nobody is saying that George McCartney is better than him. However, the two fullbacks had very different approaches to the game on Saturday, and completed reflected the two sides approaches.
The image below shows both McCartney and Shaw's attempted passes from the game (the claret/red are McCartney, and the grey are Shaw).
What you can clearly see, is that whenever McCartney got the ball, his first thought was to get it up the left flank and link up with Stewart Downing. Shaw, on the other hand, often turned inside and played the ball into the middle of midfield to Morgan Schneiderlin.
In fact, McCartney played 10 successful passes to Downing during the game - the most by any West Ham pair. Shaw played inside to Schneiderlin 9 times, his highest combination.
This contrast reflects two things. Firstly, West Ham's desire to get the ball forward early doesn't necessarily mean a long ball to a centre forward. Our most regular pass combinations are almost always from fullback to winger, displaying our intent to go wide with regularity.
Secondly, playing the likes of Jay Rodriguez as a left winger is great when you are able to press high up the pitch. When you aren't it just means the fullback has a lack of opportunity to go down the line.
The final point to make, is that Kevin Nolan was the most effective offensive player on the park.
The West Ham skipper may have only attempted 16 passes, but he completed 14 of them, getting an assist on the way, and managed to bag himself to final goal of the game.
The image below shows his passing map from the game. To those who say the Scouser is poor on the ball, look at the range of some of them. He isn't your tika-taka short passing and ball retention midfielder, but he is able to keep hold of the ball, and he is able to play a variety of passes - as demonstrated by his superb through ball for Matt Jarvis' equaliser.
All in all, a good day at the office to round of a sensational month.
I know Sam says he doesn't want the Manager of the Month award, but he's certain to get it - four wins from four, and he's the only manager to achieve that this month.
General Play
4-2-3-1 Formation 4-2-3-1
(6) Adrián - Artur Boruc (-30)
(-28) Guy Demel - Calum Chambers (-30)
(11) James Collins - Jose Fonte (6)
(19) James Tomkins - Maya Yoshida (39)
(-4) George McCartney - Luke Shaw (4)
(5) Mark Noble - Morgan Schneiderlin (44)
(-8) Matthew Taylor - Jack Cork (26)
(5) Matt Jarvis - Adam Lallana (22)
(41) Kevin Nolan - Steven Davis (37)
(23) Stewart Downing - Jay Rodriguez (-4)
(15) Carlton Cole - Rickie Lambert (17)
(-12) Mohamed Diamé - Gaston Ramirez (43)
(6) Winston Reid - James Ward-Prowse (14)
() - Sam Gallagher (1)
Best Performance
(41) Kevin Nolan - Morgan Schneiderlin (44)
Worst Performance
(-28) Guy Demel - Calum Chambers (-30)
33% Possession 67%
212 Passes Attempted 537
Mark Noble 33 Most Attempted 92 Steven Davis
65% Passing Accuracy 86%
53% In Opp. Half 79%
Kevin Nolan 88% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 96% Gaston Ramirez
52 Long Balls 58
25% % Long Balls 11%
James Collins 5 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 9 Morgan Schneiderlin
Most Frequent Pass Combination
McCartney to Downing 10 - 20 Cork to Davis
7 Aerial Duels Won 14
33% Success 67%
Carlton Cole 4 Most Won 4 Jose Fonte
George McCartney 59 Most Touches 100 Steven Davis
Offensive Play
10 Attempts on Goal 25
5 On Target 5
4 Off Target 13
1 Blocked 7
40% From Outside the Box 40%
Carlton Cole 3 Most Shots 5 Adam Lallana
7 Key Passes 19
Stewart Downing 2 Most Key Passes 4 Adam Lallana
28 Crosses 33
Stewart Downing 15 Most Attempted 7 Adam Lallana
7 Successful Crosses 7
25% Success 21%
Stewart Downing 5 Most Successful 2 Adam Lallana
9 Take Ons Attempted 14
3 Successful Take Ons 9
33% Success 64%
James Collins 1 Most Take Ons 6 Adam Lallana
Defensive Play
31 Tackles Attempted 15
12 Successful Tackles 10
39% Success 67%
Mohamed Diamé 4 Most Tackles 2 Gaston Ramirez
42 Clearances 47
James Collins 6 Most Clearances 14 Jose Fonte
9 Interceptions 9
James Tomkins 3 Most Clearances 3 Morgan Schneiderlin
7 Shot Blocks 1
Matthew Taylor 2 Most Shot Blocks 1 Jose Fonte
Discipline
10 Fouls 8
Carlton Cole 3 Most Fouls 2 Rickie Lambert
0 Yellow Cards 1
West Ham United:
Southampton: Adam Lallana
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United:
Southampton:
Head to Heads
Adrián vs Artur Boruc
1 Goals Conceded 3
4 Saves 2
5 Claims 1
5 Successful Claims 1
100% Success 100%
33 Total Distribution 26
14 Accurate 19
42% Success 73%
16 Goal Kicks 7
9 Accurate 4
56% Success 57%
2 Throw Outs 6
2 Accurate 6
100% Success 100%
3 Kick from Hand 1
1 Accurate 1
33% Success 100%
12 Other 12
2 Accurate 8
17% Success 67%
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Carlton Cole 10 Most Passed To 6 Jose Fonte
Mark Noble 2 Most Passes From 4 Jose Fonte
George McCartney vs Luke Shaw
3 Aerial Duels 0
2 Duels Won 0
67% Success 0%
1 Tackles Attempted 2
0 Tackles Completed 2
0% Success 100%
8 Clearances 5
1 Interceptions 1
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
29 Passes Attempted 31
17 Successful 24
59% Success 77%
1 Crosses Attempted 4
0 Successful 1
0% Success 25%
0 Chances Created 1
0 Attempts on Goal 2
0 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
Stewart Downing 10 Most Passed To 9 Morgan Schneiderlin
Stewart Downing 5 Most Passes From 7 Morgan Schneiderlin
Kevin Nolan vs Adam Lallana
16 Passes Attempted 38
14 Successful 35
88% Success 92%
1 Key Passes 4
1 Assists 0
2 Attempts on Goal 5
2 On Target 1
1 Goals 0
0 Take Ons Attempted 6
0 Take Ons Successful 5
0% Success 83%
4 Tackles Attempted 3
0 Tackles Completed 2
0% Success 67%
2 Clearances 0
0 Interceptions 0
0 Blocks 0
0 6yrd Blocks 0
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
Guy Demel 3 Most Passed To 7 Calum Chambers
Matthew Taylor 3 Most Passes From 10 Steven Davis
Carlton Cole vs Rickie Lambert
3 Attempts on Goal 3
1 On Target 1
1 Goals 0
1 Key Passes 2
0 Assists 0
21 Passes Attempted 27
10 Successful 21
48% Success 78%
0 Take Ons 0
0 Sucecssful Take Ons 0
0% Success 0%
10 Aerial Duels 1
3 Duels Won 1
30% Success 100%
Stewart Downing 4 Most Passed To 6 Steven Davis
Adrián 10 Most Passes From 6 Adam Lallana
