Sunday 7th December 2014
15:00
Boleyn Ground
West Ham United vs Swansea City
Analysis
It feels like forever since I last wrote about West Ham, and in my absence we've had a couple of very good results. I last wrote properly for a match preview against Everton. Since then, we had the defeat at Goodison, but followed it up with a home win against the in-form Newcastle United and then a very hard fought away win at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night.
This weekend, we welcome Swansea City to the Boleyn, and will be hoping to continue the Swans poor away form. Garry Monk's side haven't won away from the Liberty since the opening day of the season, picking up just two away points in their subsequent five league games.
However, this poor form does not mean West Ham should take Sunday's visitors lightly.
Key Player
Swansea have won a lot of plaudits for their results this season - though their weak away form has been somewhat neglected by the media - and there have been a number of players that have contributed to their good start to the season.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has had a good start to life in Wales after replacing Michel Vorm in the summer. Neil Taylor has slipped seamlessly back into the XI after Ben Davies' move to Spurs. Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer and Jefferson Montero are one of the best pools of wingers in the division, Wilfried Bony has been in blistering goalscoring form, and Ki Sung-Yeung's form has made Michael Laudrup's decision to send him to Sunderland on loan last season look all the more bizarre.
But despite all of this, there has been one truly outstanding performing in the Swans ranks.
Gylfi Sigurdsson has been at the heart of everything that is good about Swansea this season. The Icelandic international has created 37 chances in 14 games, and bagged a massive 8 assists in the process.
He's also nabbed himself a pair of goals, has a passing accuracy of 86% and has a mightily impressive 19 interceptions to his name.
The images below show his performance in last weekend's draw with Crystal Palace. Although his side didn't manage to get the result they were after, Sigurdsson pulled the strings. The image on the left shows the four chances (including one assist) he created on the day, and the image on the right shows his heat map.
You'll notice that all of those chances created came from that pocket of space between the midfield and defence - the traditional #10 space. His heat map shows that, although he is capable and willing to drift around the park, he operates mostly in that area just outside of the box.
And this is where Gylfi is at his most dangerous. The image below shows the area of the pitch from which Sigurdsson has created chances this season. More than half of the chances he has created have come from that zone of the pitch, and a total of 75.7% have come from central areas.
West Ham may be without defensive midfield pair Mark Noble and Alex Song again this weekend. If those two don't make it, whoever fills the holding role will need to be right on top of his game to keep Sigurdsson quiet.
How do you stop Swansea?
As I've already mentioned, the Swans' away record this season has been pretty bad. Okay, so they've played some top sides, but they are a totally different animal away from home.
Ignoring the recent loss to Manchester City, the three away games for before that have been a pair of nil-nil draws at Everton and Sunderland, sandwiching a 2-1 defeat at Stoke City.
I've looked at the performances of the three home teams in that game, and there seems to be a pattern emerging in how to play against Swansea.
We all know that they keep the ball for fun, and will pass teams into submission if given the opportunity. They love to dictate the tempo of a game, and want to play it on their own terms. What the opposition in the last few away games have done, is really take the game to the Swans.
Everton took 17 shots against Swansea, with 11 coming from outside of the box, and attempted 22 take ons and 20 tackles in the Swansea half.
Stoke took 15 shows, 7 from outside of the box, and attempted 18 take ons and 11 tackles in the Swans half. And Sunderland had 15 shots, 7 from outside of the box, 15 take ons and 13 tackles in the opposition half.
What this shows, is that the home side has taken the initiative and has had a real go at Swansea.
This approach leads to the Swans being pegged back somewhat, unable to play the expansive game that we are accustomed to seeing from them.
Swansea's average positions against Sunderland compared to their last home game against QPR demonstrates very well how this front-foot approach causes the Swans to condense and play a far more conservative game.
The images below show Swansea's average positions against both Sunderland and QPR. You can see that their home approach is to spread the play, get men wide, and get men forward. In the Sunderland game, they took a very narrow approach, and played into the Black Cats hands.
West Ham have the capability to get at Swansea on Sunday, and a positive, Go Get 'Em approach is key if we are to take the three points.
Weakness
According to Whoscored.com, some of Swansea's main weaknesses this season have been their struggle to hold onto a lead.
In the Premier League this season, Swansea have taken the lead on 13 separate occasions, in 11 different games. They have only held 6 of those leads to the end of a game, meaning they have failed to see out a game when in the lead on 7 seperate occasions.
On average, each lead the Swans have held has lasted for just 30 minutes, and when you just count those they they managed to throw away, their leads last for just 19.9 minutes.
The table below shows each of their leads, what happened, and what happened in the game as a whole.
Conclusion
Swansea will prove a tough opposition for West Ham on Sunday, but one we should not be daunted by. The Swans have the players to cause damage to any opponent, but their away record leaves a lot to be desired, and their season so far indicates that going a goal behind against them does not mean it is game over.
I'm torn on what to expect as a result from this game. If the likes of Alex Song and Diafra Sakho are back and available, I would think we will have more than enough to win the game. However, if we are still missing a couple of players, a draw could be a very acceptable result.
Head to Head
47% Head to Head Win % 30%
27 Won 17
13 Drawn 13
17 Lost 27
109 Goals Scored 73
73 Goals Conceded 109
Recent Form (excl. Friendlies)
W D D L W W Last 6 L D W L D W
8 Goals Scored 7
6 Goals Conceded 6
L W W W D W Home/Away Form L D L L D L
9 Goals Scored 5
5 Goals Conceded 10
Form Player (excl. GK)
(Last 6 League)
James Tomkins - Wilfried Bony
4 Appearances 6
336 Minutes Played 475
32.2 Sum WhoScored Performance Score 45.3
8.1 Average WhoScored Performance Rating 7.6
120 Passes Attempted 177
83 Completed 141
69% Success Rate 80%
1 Chances Created 8
0 Assists 1
1 Attempts on Goal 18
1 On Target 7
1 Goals 4
1 Take Ons Attempted 9
1 Successful Take Ons 7
100% Success Rate 78%
15 Tackles Made 2
11 Successful Tackles 1
73% Success Rate 50%
10 Interceptions 0
42 Clearances 11
3 Blocks 1
14 Defensive Actions Per Game 2
25 Aerial Duels 27
20 Won 16
80% Success Rate 59%
0 Defensive Errors 0
0 Leading to a Goal 0
Last Meeting
01 March 2014
1-0 Kevin Nolan 26'
2-0 Kevin Nolan 45'
4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1
Adrián - Gerhard Tremmel
Guy Demel - Dwight Tiendalli
James Collins - Chico Flores
James Tomkins - Ashley Williams
George McCartney - Ben Davies
Mark Noble - Jordi Amat (63')
(79') Matthew Taylor - Jonathan De Guzman
Stewart Downing - Nathan Dyer (77')
(87') Kevin Nolan - Jonjo Shelvey (70')
(66') Matt Jarvis - Wayne Routledge
(S/O 59') Andy Carroll - Wilfried Bony
Subs
Jussi Jääskeläinen - David Cornell
(79') Winston Reid - Angel Rangel
Roger Johnson - Leon Britton
Ravel Morrison - Pablo Hernandez (70')
(87') Antonio Nocerino - Roland Lamah
(66') Carlton Cole - Alejandro Pozuelo (63')
Marco Borriello - David N'Gog (77')
Absentees
Injured/Doubtful
West Ham United: Alex Song, Mark Noble, Diafra Sakho
Swansea City: Federico Fernandez
Suspensions
West Ham United:
Swansea City:
Opposition Last Time Out (League)
vs Queens Park Rangers
Goals Scored: 2
Goals Conceded: 0
Starting Formation: 4-3-2-1
Lukasz Fabianski
Ashley Richards Kyle Bartley Ashley Williams Neil Taylor
Leon Britton (79') Ki Sung-Yeung
Wayne Routledge Gylfi Sigurdsson (87') Jefferson Montero (70')
Wilfried Bony
subs:
Gerhard Tremmel
Jordi Amat
Jonjo Shelvey (79')
Tom Carroll (87')
Modou Barrow
Nathan Dyer (70')
Bafetembi Gomis
Best Player: Wilfried Bony(8.8)
Worst Player: Neil Taylor(6.5)
Top 5's (Min 5 Apps)
Goals Scored
Diafra Sakho 6 - 6 Wilfried Bony
Enner Valencia 3 - 3 Nathan Dyer
Mauro Zárate 2 - 3 Wayne Routledge
Carlton Cole 2 - 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Morgan Amalfitano 2 - 2 Ki Sung-Yeung
Assists
Stewart Downing 5 - 8 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Enner Valencia 2 - 2 Jefferson Montero
Cheikhou Kouyaté 2 - 2 Nathan Dyer
James Tomkins 2 - 2 Wilfried Bony
Aaron Cresswell 2 - 1 Wayne Routledge
Passing Accuracy
Mark Noble 86% - 91% Ki Sung-Yeung
Mauro Zárate 84% - 90% Tom Carroll
Stewart Downing 84% - 89% Nathan Dyer
Winston Reid 82% - 87% Neil Taylor
Morgan Amalfitano 80% - 87% Federico Fernandez
Chances Created per 90
Stewart Downing 2.69 - 2.22 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Mauro Zárate 1.31 - 1.25 Wilfried Bony
Alex Song 1.29 - 1.15 Bafetembi Gomis
Mark Noble 1.26 - 1.03 Jefferson Montero
Aaron Cresswell 1.14 - 0.9 Wayne Routledge
Successful Dribbles per 90
Mauro Zárate 2.4 - 5.42 Jefferson Montero
Enner Valencia 1.71 - 2.59 Bafetembi Gomis
Diafra Sakho 0.97 - 1.66 Nathan Dyer
Morgan Amalfitano 0.88 - 1.45 Wayne Routledge
Alex Song 0.86 - 1.07 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Tackles Won per 90
Alex Song 2.86 - 1.99 Neil Taylor
Cheikhou Kouyaté 2.8 - 1.68 Angel Rangel
James Tomkins 2.62 - 1.68 Jefferson Montero
Mark Noble 1.64 - 1.6 Tom Carroll
Carl Jenkinson 1.59 - 1.54 Wayne Routledge
Aerial Duels Won per 90
James Collins 4.9 - 3.16 Bafetembi Gomis
James Tomkins 4.21 - 3.08 Wilfried Bony
Diafra Sakho 3.62 - 2.29 Ashley Williams
Carlton Cole 13.17 - 2.22 Ki Sung-Yeung
Cheikhou Kouyaté 3.03 - 1.85 Federico Fernandez
Manager
Sam Allardyce - Garry Monk
19/10/1954 DOB 06/03/1979
60 Age 35
Playing Career
Bolton Wanderers Main Club Swansea City
231 Appearances 256
24 Goals 6
9 Total Clubs 7
512 Appearances 326
43 Goals 7
England National Team England
0 Caps 0
Managerial Career
Preston North End First Managerial Role Swansea City
30/09/1992 Start Date 04/02/2014
22y 1m 8d Experience 0y 10m 1d
7 Sides Managed 1
2 League Titles 0
0 Cup Wins 0
39.8% Win % 38.2%
356 Won 13
235 Drawn 8
302 Lost 13
Longest Role
Bolton Wanderers Club Swansea City
19/10/1999 Appointed 04/02/2014
29/04/2007 Left 07/12/2014
7y 6m 9d Time in Charge 0y 10m 1d
0 League Titles 0
0 Cup Wins 0
41.2% Win % 38.2%
153 Won 13
104 Drawn 8
114 Lost 13
Current Club
01/06/2011 Appointed 04/02/2014
3y 6m 6d Time in Charge 0y 10m 1d
0 League Titles 0
0 Cup Wins 0
40.5% Win % 38.2%
62 Won 13
36 Drawn 8
55 Lost 13
