How Wolves’ 'Pocket Players' Dismantled West Ham

This week’s match pick is Wolves v West Ham. Wolves are as good as down, it would take a miraculous effort to survive, but I’m sure Wolves manager Rob Edwards has not given up yet. This was Wolves best chance to pick up 3 points for the first time. For West Ham could they put another nail in Wolves’ relegation coffin whilst aiding their own escape? It’s the perfect relagtion battle to analyse both teams tactically.

The Interchanging Midget Gems. In the first half, Wolves were for once this season good to watch. They had the young fresh faced Mateus Mane, who looks like he’s just come out of college, drifting into those central areas. And that freshness permiated the Wolves team. Along with Joao Gomes, they were like little ferrets in the middle, weren't they? They found the nooks and crannies between the West Ham lines so effectively that the West Ham "sitters" didn't know whether to stay or go.

As for West Ham, the gap between the midfield and the attack was like a mountain to climb in the first half. There was no zip on the pass. When they did try to go forward, it was often wild and handsome rather than into the feet where a boy like Summerville wants it. They were playing in a different postcode to Wolves.

Nuno Espirito Santo realized at the interval that his side were being walked through, so he threw the kitchen sink at his formation, or at least the taps, by switching from a back four to a back three. Ezra Mayers came on as the left Centre Back and he tried Tomas Soucek as a holding midfielder and creator. The plan was also to re-position the two outside backs from the first half, Walker-Peters and Scarles, to help win back that midfield from Wolves

By moving to three at the back, West Ham suddenly found they had the extra man to deal with Wolves' wide runners. It gave them a bit more width and length, and the Hammers began to dominate the ball. But possession is a bit like statistics, it can be a damn lie if you don't do anything with it. Overwhelming second half possession did not turn into meaningful goal chances.

Even with the extra security and better space occupation, the West Ham midfield still looked a bit leggy when it came to the final third. They had the ball in front of the Wolves block, but they couldn't find that little biscuit of good fortune or the crafty pass to unlock the door. It was like knocking on a door that has no handle. They occupied the spaces better, yes, but they forgot to bring the keys to the house.

Will new signings Valentin 'Taty' Castellanos from Lazio and Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente bring the keys with them? Jarrod Bowen certainly needs the help.

Wolves had 10 shots and 7 were on target. That’s pretty much as good a shooting hand that you can deal yourself. Compare that to West Ham, who finished the game with 0 of their 6 shots on target despite having nearly 70% of the ball in the second half. Remarkable? Well it must have Espirito Santo pulling his hair out… Oh wait on, he hasn’t got any to pull out.

In the first half, Wolves completed 85% of their passes in the Zone 14 area (the crucial space just outside the box). West Ham’s equivalent was just 32%. That tells you exactly who was occupying the right spaces in that decisive first half.

West Ham’s Field Tilt (share of territory) rose by 25% after the tactical switch to a back three in the second half, but their Expected Goals (xG) actually dropped. They had more of the ball, but in areas that didn't cause Jose Sa in the Wolves goal any worries.

Wolves have a mountain to climb and they won’t come across many teams as ineffective as West Ham were in this game (The Hammers were even worse at Man City recently). But Wolves may yet have a part to play in who goes down with them if that mountain is unclimbable. I think Rob Edwards showed with this result on the back of the draw at Man Utd, that they might not be the easybeats in the second half of the season that they were in the first.

Lets see.

All stats for this analysis are provided by Sports Reference FBref