Under heavy criticism, West Ham manager David Moyes visibly used tactics against Chelsea and was justly rewarded. Here’s how.
One player was the tactical centrepiece for David Moyes in West Ham’s unlikely and palpation-inducing win over Chelsea and that man was Tomas Soucek. The Czech monster in the midfield was used in two very specific tactical deployments that had great success.
The first one was quite obvious considering he got on the scoresheet, but Soucek was used as the disguised back post runner on corner kicks and ended up potting two goals in the process (only one would count) because he executed the play perfectly.
The run was disguised in a three-person line centrally in the penalty area with Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna breaking the congo line headed for the front post, leaving Soucek alone at the back post with only 5’8″ Cesar Azpilicueta to defend against him.
🙌 @tomassoucek28 is off the mark! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2A36XBAfd9
— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 2, 2020
Bowen’s delivery was pinpoint but Soucek’s discipline was what made this plan work as well as it did. He didn’t get disrupted when Azpilicueta continuously tried to force his way in the setup and his determination to keep pressing for a goal after his first one was disallowed showed his mental strength.
The second tactic was Soucek busting up the pitch on long deliveries from Lukasz Fabianski. Soucek was basically used as a target man a la Sebastien Haller, freeing up Michail Antonio further up the pitch to run the channels instead of battling Christensen and Rudiger for aerial balls.
While up the pitch, Rice hung back in defensive coverage, allowing Bowen, Fornals, and Lanzini to also stay committed forward which is key. Ball retention has been a huge underappreciated area that the Hammers were poor in under Pellegrini and this tactic is a move in the right direction.
This article isn’t about David Moyes being a tactical genius that we should all bow down to. It is very much an appreciation post for a manager who is making progress and trying to get this team playing better. Tactics and deploying Soucek aerially are a great first step towards this team moving in the right direction.