A few months ago, Sam Allardyce’s position was verging upon untenable; the fans calling for a more exciting brand of football, the West Ham manager immovable in the belief that results must come first.
It seemed inevitable, especially amid the East London side’s disturbingly poor pre-season, that a couple of bad results at the start of the new campaign would cost the former Bolton and Blackburn boss his job.
The problem being, although the Hammers’ attritional style had proved effective in rescuing them from the Championship and recording a 10th place finish upon their return to the Premier League, last season, neither positive results nor positive football were common at Upton Park; a 13th place finish in 2013/14 was rather flattering, considering West Ham had bagged just four Premier League wins by the end of January and were firmly amidst a relegation battle until the final weeks of the season.
The fans, the owners, and likely the players too, wanted a more progressive and entertaining style. After all, West Ham are now only two years away from moving to the Olympic Stadium; the new ground will give the East London side the fifth-largest crowd in the Premier League -54,000 – yet the brand of play Allardyce insists upon wouldn’t look out of place in League One.
Clearly, if the Hammers are to break into the top six this season and improve themselves aesthetically, as David Gold prophesised earlier this summer, their manager would have to demonstrate a conviction to change.
So five games into the new Premier League season, with the Hammers sitting comfortably in eighth and directly following an impressive 3-1 scalp of Liverpool, you would be forgiven for thinking that Allardyce had u-turned on a philosophy he’s maintained throughout prior spells with Bolton, Blackburn and Newcastle, or at least found compromise between his own views and that of the fan base.
But in truth, Allardyce’s West Ham are the same old Allardyce West Ham; the crucial difference being the improved quality of player now available to 59 year-old.
They say the stats don’t lie and West Ham’s are incredibly telling; last season, the Irons played a higher percentage of long-passes, 17%, than any Premier League side. This term, although currently surpassed by Crystal Palace, Hull City and Leicester, their long-ball bias remains remarkably similar at 15%. Last season, they recorded the joint-longest average pass length of 21 metres; this season, they’re in joint-second with 20 meters. Last year their average possession was 46%, now it’s up to 47%. And in classic Allardyce style, three of his side’s nine goals this season have come from set pieces – the most of any Premier League club.
There are subtle, slender changes. Registering the seventh-most clearances so far this year, in comparison to the second-most last season, is another example of how West Ham’s style has become more varied.
Some may attribute this to the presence of new attacking coach Teddy Sherringham, others, the immense pressure on Allardyce to turn over a new tactical leaf. Yet, through thick and thin, the West Ham manager has continually insisted that he wouldn’t change the way his team play. He said so at the end of last season and following his side’s 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, instead highlighting the improved quality of West Ham’s finishing.
The crucial difference remains the make-up of the West Ham squad, particularly the absence of two key players that thrive under direct service in Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan, combined with some smart recruitment over the summer.
Aaron Cresswell for example, was one of the Championship’s most creative entities last season, finding twelve assists from left-back. £7million signing Cheikhou Kouyate has added a more dynamic element to the midfield whilst maintaining the solidity and athleticism of old. Mauro Zarate breaks the mould of striker who tend to serve under Allardyce, offering quick feet and the intelligence to find gaps between the defence and midfield, rather than simply attempting to batter through it.
Diafra Sakho’s pace has added a whole new dimension to the Hammers’ previously static forward line, whilst Enner Valencia demonstrated his immense quality at the World Cup by bagging three goals in three games for Ecuador, as well as during his first Premier League start against Hull City. And of course, Alex Song’s pedigree – the midfielder formerly of Arsenal and Barcelona – goes without saying.
Indeed, in a bid to appease the fans and the board, Sam Allardyce has turned to his second-greatest quality as a manager, after guaranteed top flight survival. That quality is a fantastic understanding of the transfer market, and West Ham’s recent evolution bears many parallels with Allardyce’s tenure at Bolton.
The Wanderers initially struggled to preserve their Premier League status in 2001 as they employed a direct, physically confrontational style. Yet, the Bolton side that recorded a 6th-place Premier League finish and simultaneously reached a League Cup final four years later contained such aesthetic talents as Ivan Campo, Jay-Jay Okocha, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Fernando Hierro, all of whom brought international class to the Reebok stadium. That summer, Hidetoshi Nakata, the greatest technical talent Asia had to offer at the time, also joined the Bolton ranks, and a year later Nicolas Anelka followed suit.
To say Allardyce’s Bolton were football purists would be untrue, but to claim long-ball football was the only weapon in their armoury would be an equal fallacy. The Reebok outfit’s blend of quality footballers, mean athletes and accomplished defenders made them a multi-dimensional side that could play in a variety of ways – at their core however, remained Allardyce’s ethos of direct, aggressive football.
There have been clear changes at Upton Park this season but none can be located in Allardyce’s mindset. He’s still a champion of attritional football, and at 59 years of age, likely always will be. Rather, West Ham’s quality of player has improved so dramatically in comparison to last year that the subtle evolution of their style is a natural, inevitable occurrence.
It may not be the twist towards attacking football the fans and the board envisaged, but through some fantastic business in the transfer market, Allardyce has at least silenced his critics for now.
It could be worse Nando, you could be one of these guys…
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