For a man that prides himself on closing a game out, Sam Allardyce’s West Ham side have really come undone in the last ten minutes on too many occasions this season.
23% of the goals the side have conceded this season have come in just 11% of game play, essentially meaning the side are leaking an unproportional amount of goals in game’s closing stages.
The Tottenham Hotspur defeat is the latest in a series of games in which the team have left with nothing having been in a winning position (Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal).
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The reasons behind this are unknown but what is certain is that the team invite pressure when they’ve got something to defend. West Ham have played their best this season when trailing or drawing a game and have applied high pressure in the opposition’s half in search of goals. Good examples of this have been during the Chelsea, Swansea and QPR home games.
However, this intensity and pressure declines and the defence drop deep when the side have found the net. This can be seen in the Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham’s games.
This is exemplified through possession statistics. The side have suffered the minority of possession when ahead – when a continuation of pressure could be viewed as West Ham’s best form of defence. West Ham ended Monday’s game having enjoyed just 38% of possession overall – however throughout phases (most notably when at 0-0, 0-1 and 1-1) enjoyed significantly more.
It seems the side have lost confidence in their ability to maintain this pressure when with something to defend.
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Some of Big Sam’s substitutions also leave much to be desired with the most energetic player (Mohamed Diame) often being one of the first replacements whilst those that are looking tired (Andy Carroll) staying on until the end.
The irony comes in Big Sam’s advice for 442’s Performance website. “You can change the mentality by changing the team around or asking the players to follow slightly different tactics until you get back on course; if you’re losing games by the odd goal then the first thing to do is to stop conceding”. He could do worse than following his advice and changing his tact.
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