Blind Hammer looks at how Pellegrini is revolutionising West Ham’s style.
A sub text of our success over Fulham was its demonstration of how increasingly obsolete previous assumptions about West Ham are.
Stuart Pearce, despite being partly responsible for these weaknesses, highlighted these assumptions in his early match analysis for TalkSport.
According to Pearce Fulham’s strategy should rely on pressing West Ham and exploiting deficiencies at full back, especially left back. The weaknesses, according to Pearce, lay in “Zabaleta’s legs” and Masuaku’s defensive vulnerability. Listening to Pearce you could hear why he and Moyes were never happy playing Masuaku’s, and apparently Zabeleta, without the support of Cresswell in a back 3.
Fulham seemed to share this belief. They shifted, arguably their most influential creative influence, tom Cairney, from midfield to the wings in an effort to expose this perceived liability.
You cannot help feeling slightly sorry for Fulham. Khan and his fellow directors appointed Ranieri as a safe pair of hands, drawing on a well of previous Premiership success. Yet this it was previous, now obsolete, experience which ultimately underlied his tactical failure here. Pearce appears not to have caught up with West Ham’s transformation either.
The West Ham vintage of 2018 is evolving into a very different creature from the teams of 2017 and earlier. It is now not so easy to press West Ham without consequence. Pressing West Ham with a deep lying back 5 is one thing. Pressing West Ham now with a high line back 4, even with supposed full back liabilities, is something completely different. Pressing teams will find themselves confronted with a counter press and most crucially a counter attack. We compete far more effectively in midfield with the extra man that 4 at the back release. The arrival of Rice and his added athleticism allied to the incisive play of Anderson has been critical in supporting this transition.
No longer do West Ham rely upon sitting deep, trusting on defensive depth to compress play and provide cover.
The problem with sitting deep was that we lost defensive safety whenever we advanced up the pitch. Ironically we showed vulnerability, not so much when conceding a corner, but when we won a corner. It was then that we were most likely to be involved in a desperate last ditch attempt to prevent a counter attack.
Pellegrini approach is radically different. He revealed on whufc.com how the recruitment of Balbuena was crucial to his plans.
“Fabian Balbuena came from South America, but he played for one of the biggest teams in Brazil, so he is used to playing the way I want to play, with his Back not so covered and with space behind them.”
Balbuena’s low transfer value misled us in the summer. We assumed he was squad cover recruitment, competing alongside Ogbonna and Reid, both of whom were likely to be ahead of him.
It appears now it was Balbuena just as much as Diop who was the essential summer recruit. He is the critical organiser, the general who has led Diop into the team.
Pellegrini’s preference for defenders who are comfortable with “space behind them” also explains why he recruited Fredericks and possibly his persistence with Masuaku. . In such a system pace to provide recovery from loss of possession is essential. Pellegrini wants not a deep but a high defensive line.
Pace is not the sole requirement for a successful back 4. Zabaleta’s has used experience and positional sense to compensate for his perceived lack of pace. His successful return to a back 4 has confounded predictions.
Now West ham are just as likely to conduct a press of their own, but most importantly teams are increasingly fearful of our developing counter attacking prowess. It is quite a while since we have heard the phrase “clinical counter attacking” to describe West ham’s goal threat. Yet this is the new weapons Anderson et al are providing.
Such a strategy is not without risks. We are still reliant on the skills of Fabianski too much for comfortable viewing/listening.
Yet most of us would trade this for the free scoring outfit which our team has suddenly become. Hopefully other teams will be as tardy as Fulham in realising the transformation that is happening.
A Happy Christmas and New year to all West Ham supporters wherever they are across the Globe.
COYI
David Griffith