Easy

The power was given to my small following to choose a game to do some of my typical match review analysis on. The game chosen was that of West Ham vs Norwich. A 2-0 victory for the Hammers. The battle of the 7m (or nearly) Strikers, Haller and Pukki.

The teams set up as below.

4-1-4-1

West ham set up with a standard 4-1-4-1 which turned into a 4-1-2-3 in attack. Two natural number 10’s on the pitch and Yarmolenko as a winger, playing on his weaker side. All supporting the lone forward Haller.

Defence

The ever impressive Fabianksi in the nets. He recorded 3 saves in a match where Norwich rarely threatened. Diop and Ogbonna started at centre back again due to Balbuena still being injured. Looking more impressive was Diop who seems to grow in each game. He dealt with Pukki very well in this game. The young Frenchman knew when to press and when to keep his distance. Pukki was never going to beat Diop for power or pace, and Diop’s positioning gave him the advantage in this match. During the 90 minutes he made 2 interceptions and 1 clearance. Further more he completed all 4 of his combined ground and aerial duels.

Ogbonna had a decent game but showed the difference in him and Diop against Norwich. While Diop made no tackles, Ogbonna attempted 4 with only 1 being successful. Seemed more rash in the tackle and this showed with the numbers. People love a tackle as it’s exciting, but if you are making tackles, someone has made a mistake somewhere. Ogbonna also only won 5 out of his 8 attempted ground and aerial duels. Fine vs Norwich but will be punished when playing better teams.

Winging it

At left back we have Masuaku, converted winger. Which nearly always shows, often caught high up the pitch. Had a more conservative game this time, maybe he has finally curbed his kamikaze forays forward. The left back made 2 clearances and 2 interceptions. As well as winning 4 of his 6 tackles. It was his ball that set up Haller for his first goal. He does have it in his locker but is lucky Norwich were not as progressive down his side. Fredericks on the right was solid if not spectacular. Winning 2 out his 2 tackles made, getting 2 clearances and 1 interception. Not as forward thinking as his opposite side and did not threaten to set up any of his team mates.

Midfield

At the base of midfield and the natural defensive midfielder in the system was Rice. He did not have a great deal to do, and was helped out by Club Captain Noble. As when Norwich threatened, he would drop back and help Rice out to form a central two.

Number 10

Next up we have a player that I greatly admire, Lanzini. His creativity in the right side is such a great thing to have in a team. He is naturally always looking to move the ball on to a more dangerous position or to a team mate in an advanced area. It shows this season that when he is fully fit he is such a talent. He has registered 14 key passes so far, only pass master supreme KDB has more on 16.

In this match he was a joy to watch, buzzing around centrally drifting to the left hand side He had 79 touches, had 88% pass accuracy, while also having a shot on target. Which he should have scored. Completing 5 out of his 6 attempted dribbles as well. Makes West Ham a much better team when he is in the side.

Football manager favourite Yarmolenko despite scoring, did not have a great match. He was up against the front footed Lewis and the combative Cantwell. And being very left footed, he kept coming inside or tuning back on himself. Both of these things combined explain his 39 touches compared to the playmaking Anderson’s 95 touches on the other wing.

Playmaker

Speaking of Anderson, he had a very good game. Playing off the left side coming and going outside as he is equally comfortable doing so. In excess of double the accurate passes than Yarmolenko, with 7 out of his 8 dribbles completed. Anderson had 1 shot on target and 1 shot blocked and was a constant threat in his 88 minutes. Norwich were focusing on Anderson throughout which left other Hammers players free. So he influenced the game on the ball as well as being a defender magnet.

Stop…HallerTime

Last up we have the impressive Haller. As previewed by a few people when he signed, nobody knew exactly what kind of forward he was. Is he a traditional target man, is he more of a link player or is he a poacher? I think he fits quite a few of those moulds. One thing he has with Lanzini and Anderson fit, is chances. He should get his fair share of chances with the creativity behind him.

Against Norwich Haller did well, who did nothing really wrong when martialling him. He had 2 shots on target and scored from one of them as well as completing 2 of his 3 dribbles. Winning 8 out of his 13 aerial duels and 5 out of his 9 ground duels was impressive. An all action performance from Haller, who possesses good movement and an instinct for scoring. The key will be Anderson keeping up the form over 38 games and Lanzini lasting 38 games without getting crocked again.

4-2-3-1

The away team Norwich set up as they have done in the previous 4 league matches. This tends to become a little narrow as both “wingers” are not natural wide men. The width tends to come from the exciting full backs in Aarons and Lewis.

Defence

Old Newcastle favourite Krul is the starting keeper. He had a busy game, saving 5 shots, 4 were form within the area. Centre backs starting were Zimmermann and Godfrey. Zimmermann however got injured in the build up to Haller’s goal. He was replaced less than 10 minutes later with more of a midfielder in Amadou. The centre backs gave Haller and co too much space in front of Krul. No ground duels won between the 3 of them and only 50% of aerial duels won. Haller made them work.

Flying full backs

Two of the success in the Championship were Aarons and Lewis bombing up and down the flanks. A pair of full backs I would have loved at Tottenham this summer. They offer so much going forward and have the recovery pace to get back. Despite the score and the attacking midfield of West Ham, both Aarons and Lewis were still flying down each side. They attempted 5 crosses, however only 1 was successful. They did complete 11 out of their combined 17 attempted dribbles. Both had above 80% pass accuracy and were bright lights in a dull performance in an attacking sense.

Hardworking

In the “2” of the midfield, we find Trybull and Leitner. Neither are too attacking and provided the stability and base to build from in that shape. Trybull had a 97% pass accuracy and they had 197 touches between them. They won 4 out of their 5 combined tackles during the match. Another hard worker in that midfield is Stierpermann. He was all over the pitch, combating the more creative outlets of West Ham. 1 shot on target and a shot blocked, along with 50% successful dribbles. Nothing really creative in those 3 to worry the opposition but they are good at clogging up that central area. It just did not work this time.

Next up we have the most creative outlet in the set-up in Buendia. Such a lot to like from the diminutive Argentine. Whether it’s his neat and tidy but also probing passing. His close control and dribbling. He is for me, the one to just follow and watch in the midfield. In this game he recorded an 80% pass accuracy and have 89 touches. These were spread all over the oppositions half as shown above. Buendia did not have any shots, as he could not find a way through, but completed 2 out of his 3 attempted dribbles. He will win many more fans with his style of play this season.

Premature form?

Playing from the left, but not naturally a winger is Cantwell. Who has already impressed with his output in the first 3 games. With 2 assists and 1 goal in back to back games before this loss. He has looked a good player who likes to get in the box along with Pukki to create goal scoring scenarios.

The truth is he hardly played from Feb last year and was a surprise to most people that he is now starting games. What he is, is very hard working and does have a little more about him, in that midfield apart from Buendia. This was just not his game, he could not get forward as much as he and the team would have liked. He was constantly shepherding Yarmolenko back onto his weaker foot, but then finding the more defensive minded Fredericks waiting for him. During the game he still managed 78% passing accuracy, completed his 2 attempted dribbles but missed a point-blank header.

Finnished?

The Finnish striker was the toast of the town last season, signing on a free he rocketed the Canaries to promotion. Golden boot winning 29 goals helped them achieve this. Would he carry this form on this year in the biggest of big leagues. Well at the moment yes, he is carrying it on. 5 goals and 1 assist in his 4 games played so far. He has had 14 shots so far, 11 on target, giving him 79% accuracy. This looks unsustainable, but we have been wrong before.

In this game he was well marshalled. Diop matched him stride for stride and he did not give him that much trouble. I am positive he will keep scoring, but maybe not at the rate he has been so far.

Stats

Metric Wham Norwich Shots 18 8 Passes 474 500 Interceptions 11 7 Blocks

7 16 Clearances 9 15 Touches 662 711

Looking at the Stats from the game shows a few things. Despite the score line, Norwich had more passes and more touches of the ball. But they just could not make any of them count. The Defensive actions are quite clearly in favour of West Ham trying to batter down that back line.

Conclusions

So, a very good win for West Ham, and probably a wake-up call for Norwich. For as well as they have played vs Newcastle and against Chelsea these are the games, they will need to get at least a point in. It looks like there are no Promoted whipping boys, yet. West Ham could do well if those three behind Haller (and Haller himself) stay fit. They could be a real force pushing up that table, but only if they keep scoring. I cannot see them keeping too many clean sheets no matter how good Fab and Diop play. If Norwich actually get their favoured back four out for some games, they might see some clean sheets soon. They have the workman like midfield 2 or 3 to make that area stable. They just need some stability in the centre back pairing.

Hope you enjoyed this review that the people voted for. Not as passionate as my normal piece but hopefully it serves a purpose.

@Mister_WP