PROOF: West Ham’s playing style has evolved under Big Sam

A lot has been made of West Ham’s supposed push to improve their style of football. After a season full of complaint about the style of football that Big Sam has forced upon his players, the club’s board pledged that instead of sacking Sam Allardyce, they would simply change his style. Teddy Sheringham was brought in to increase West Ham’s attacking prowess. 

So, after just one competitive game following this promise, are there any immediate signs of a style change?

West Ham only play long-ball football. Well, they did. Last season the Hammers averaged 66 long balls per game. Against Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham notched up 68. An increase yes, but overall – a percentage decrease. West Ham averaged just 274 short passes per game last season in the Premier League. Versus Tottenham this rose to 354. 19.4% of all passes which were made by West Ham last season were long balls however against Spurs the emphasis on long balls was 16.1%. 

A visible decrease which was noticeable on Saturday. The Hammers also had a larger share of the possession against Tottenham than they did on average last season – 46% compared with 42.6% last season. 

“Shoot!” is often heard in the terraces, and maybe the players are listening this season, as on Saturday West Ham had 18 shots (the second highest on the opening weekend). Last season West Ham averaged just 11.1 shots per game. Of course if you don’t shoot you can’t score, but it’s often quality over quantity. 

No teams are at their best on opening weekend and you can’t subsequently mustn’t take the statistics too seriously, but they do point to an increase in possession and attacking chances – an improvement surely?