West Ham Second half comeback (vs AZ Alkmaar)

After West Ham went in at halftime 1-0 down, it was the intensity and energy in the ground that ended up prevailing as West Ham comeback to win the game 2-1.

(Image from West Ham website)

West Ham came into this semi final with the prospect of reaching a third European final in their history, their first in 47 years. The European Cup Winners Cup final was the last time West Ham reached a European Cup final in the 1975/76 season finishing runners up to the Champions Anderlecht.

So this made the occasion at hand even bigger, the chance to reach the Conference league final after their Europa league semi final upset last season losing to Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 over two legs.

The first half of this game lacked end product, with some questionable foul calls and a good save from Matthew Ryan the AZ goalkeeper to keep out Benrahma following a nice effort. However in the 41st minute, AZ Alkmaar broke on West Ham and Tijjani Reijnders found the net with a long shot beating Alphonse Areola at his near post.

Going into the second half 1-0 down, West Ham came out with the same XI and no changes made. The style was extremely similar too, with the game following a similar pattern lacking end product. However when Jarrod Bowen won a penalty in the 67th minute allowing Benrahma to equalise, the game turned on its head and you could see/feel the energy and intensity in the stadium from that point on.

This led to West Ham piling on the pressure and keeping AZ in their own half, which eventually led to another goal, this time Michail Antonio poking in the rebound in the 75th minute to give West Ham a 2-1 lead. The game ended 2-1 and means West Ham go into the away fixture against AZ with a 2-1 lead to protect, leaving them only 90 minutes away from a European cup final.

Tactics and Game plan:

West Ham set up in a 4-2-3-1, which out of possession went into a 4-4-2 block to defend. Paqueta who played in the attacking midfield position in the 4-2-3-1 would join Antonio and make a front two when transitioning to the 4-4-2 in defensive scenarios to stop AZ in their build up play.

(Figure 1) (Image taken from BT Sport YouTube)

Here are two visual representations of West Ham's 4-4-2 block when AZ would build up play from the back. This allowed West Ham to create to blocks of 4 to defend and stop the passes into the AZ attacking midfielder and striker by creating a box defensive shape between the two centre backs and two central midfielders. This also meant that when possession was regained, Paqueta could quickly drop into the attacking midfield position to pick up the ball and would have three runners (at least) ahead of him with the likes of Bowen, Benrahma and Antonio.

Paqueta seemed to have an extremely free role for West Ham in possession, as he would roam around and pick up the ball trying to break the lines with his passing and quick touches. At times we saw Paqueta drop as the deepest midfielder to pick up the ball, and other times we saw Paqueta making blind side runs to receive progressive passes and release pressure on West Ham.

The game plan from the off set looked to follow a minimum width paradigm. Using Antonio's ability to make runs into channels, this was drawing the opposition defenders attention and moving the back four.

If you have not come across the minimum width paradigm before, a brief way to describe this would be where the furthest wide player on each side is wider than the opposition fullback (defender) whilst not being out on the touchline. The benefits of this being when the winger receives the ball, they are closer to goal and can be more direct with their approach to creating a chance. This is also effective as if possession is lost, the players are closer together in order to counter press and stop AZ from breaking quickly.

This is an example of the long balls into Antonio within the minimum width paradigm. As you can see in this image above, Antonio would recieve the ball in front of the opposition fullback and centreback which would draw the AZ back four over to that side due to the position of Benrahma outside of Antonio.

This then leaves space for Paqueta centrally, but more importantly for Bowen to operate in a minimum width area, whilst still being on the outside of the opposition fullback causing him problems.

(Figure 2) (Image taken from BT Sport YouTube)

Here is a similar example where Paqueta actually makes the run that Antonio had been making, and wins the flick on to Bowen. This ends up isolating Bowen in a 1v1 with the opposition fullback where he is able to cut inside and get a shot away, which goes close at the near post.

This pattern was clear throughout the game for David Moyes West Ham team, and had the final ball been better on a few occasions West Ham could've created a lot more than they did.

The key to this comeback for me though was not the tactical game plan from David Moyes. But instead the energy and intensity that came from scoring the penalty to make the game 1-1. You could feel the energy raise in the stadium at this point, and it really put West Ham in the driving seat from this point. Trapping AZ in their half for sustained periods, and eventually finding the goal to make it 2-1. Rice was seen on a few occasions telling his team mates to push on and pressure AZ in their half, using this intensity that the crowd had bought into the game.

Fan words:

@ExWHUEmployee "I felt the referee really affected our momentum in the first half and it felt like we were playing against 12 men. Their time wasting also frustrated us, but we did well to come away with the win. We should test players this weekend and go into next Thursday full of confidence about getting to the final!! What an atmosphere too and well done to the club and fans for creating a special night! "

I also spoke to a West Ham fan who was at the game last night @Pollo_NBA , here's what Tyler had to say. "One thing that stood out was the confidence amongst the fan base in the air, the nerves, the noise and the atmosphere felt like a European semi final".

"It was also an exhausting game to watch as a fan, the officiating and frustrating first 60 minutes in the game slowly changed the atmosphere to a more sour, sarcastic one however after the penalty it erupted again".

"Another aspect that I spoke to some West Ham fans about at halftime was the lack of pressing and inability to do so. Inviting pressure at 1-0 down to kill the game off, too much waiting rather than pressing and forcing the issue, again an exhausting game".

"But overall the atmosphere of the game was one of the best I have been to in a long time, walking down the street after the game, the songs and the noise was unreal, maybe even the best at the London Stadium so far".