This article is part of our Match of the Week series.
West Ham and Wolves met for a mid-table match Saturday that was a tale of two halves, with Wolves having all the momentum before a West Ham comeback in the second half. West Ham now sits in seventh with 48 points, overtaking Newcastle, while Wolves remain in 11th with 42.
Starting XI
Wolves changed back to a 3-4-2-1 after using the 4-4-1-1 in their previous contest against Burnley during the week. West Ham also returned to the 4-2-3-1 they have used most of the season, leaving behind the 4-5-1 they lined up in against Tottenham.
Wolves made two changes in the starting XI, with Santi Bueno and Thomas Doyle getting the start while Hugo Bueno and Leon Chiwome fell to the bench.
West Ham only saw a single change, as Michail Antonio made way for Edson Alvarez with the change of formation.
Match Facts
Right from the kickoff, it was clear that Wolves would be taking the front foot, as Gary O'Neil set up his team looking to dismantle West Ham's deep sitting, counterattack-based strategy.
We saw slight alterations in the direct style of play Wolves usually deploy, with the team holding the ball and passing it around against the very defensive set-up of the Hammers. From there, the attacking midfielders, Doyle and Rayan Ait-Nouri, were given the job of carrying the ball up the pitch, usually looking out wide for Nelson Semedo or Matt Doherty to get a cross into the box or drive to the touchline, attempting to sneak a pass goal side for Pablo Sarabia.
Much of this was executed close to perfection in the first half, as West Ham was caught in numerous spots scrambling to defend, with Wolves' movement off the ball a bit too much for the deep sitting line of the Hammers, as they were offered pockets of space consistently.
This would lead to more of that direct style of passing we are accustomed to with Wolves, shaping a couple of counterattacks with numbers in their favor due to the press. They would end up notching the contest's first goal due to these efforts. Ait-Nouri found himself in on a through ball before being taken down in the box by Emerson, leading to a penalty for Sarabia.
The slower play of Wolves frustrated West Ham, as they controlled the ball less than 20% through the first 25 minutes of the match, unable to get anything going forward and forced to defend nearly the entirety of the first 45. When they did get their chances, it was stopped due to the press and inability to find one of the forwards striding towards the goal.
As for how Wolves set up defensively, there wasn't much defending in the first half, as their best form of defending seemed to be the possession they held. Due to the highly defensive tactics of West Ham, Wolves were allowed to keep most of their team forward and pressing when off the ball, only being forced to drop back rarely and keeping the majority of the game in the Hammer's half.
When forced into their half, Wolves mainly looked to defend in a 5-3-2, dropping the wide midfielders into a wing-back role while Ait-Nouri and Sarabia stayed up top, looking to spark a breakout once winning possession. They did decide to keep the back line a little wider than usual, possibly looking to counteract West Ham's violent wing play, as that is their main threat in the attack. Outside of this they controlled 64% of the possession in the first 45, with the majority of West Hams coming in their own final third.
West Ham's attack was much more stagnant than Wolves, as they stuck to their guns by sitting back and mainly attacking on the break in the first 45. When the break was available, most passes went out wide, with Mohammed Kudus and Lucus Paqueta running the flanks in search of the inform Jarrod Bowen, who is lethal from any angle at goal. However, much of this was dealt with in a well-done manner by Wolves, as their wide style of defending seemed to cause problems, especially with Semedo and Doherty being pacy enough on the outside to keep up with the robust counter of West Ham. They did look down the middle on the break a couple of times, but with three sitting back for Wolves, it was not easy to find a recipient on the end of the long ball.
When West Ham did have possession in their half and were attacking it was usually very similar to the counterattacking tactics, as they mainly looked out wide, trying to drive down the touchline for a pass into Bowen or James Ward-Prowse using the dynamic play of their wingers. However, much of their time on the ball did not come until the second half, with these tactics mainly taking place in the second 45 after the poor first half.
The Hammer's defensive strategy did not have much to it, as David Moyes is known for setting his team up very deep, prioritizing not allowing a goal rather than scoring them. With that being said, the defensive setup was a 5-4-1 formation, with Alvarez moving into the backline to plug the holes. The two attacking midfielders serve in more of a free-movement role, looking to press who is on the ball more than anything, with the sole man up top being Bowen. From there, they typically press the defenders on the ball with their front three, looking to cause an error and break off the players who should be the least comfortable on the ball. Outside of that, most of the defense stayed and defended, not pushing up unless clear control was won.
The first half ended with a 1-0 lead for Wolves, mainly controlling the half of play with their 64% possession, 11 shots and two big chances compared to West Ham's 36%, two and zero, respectively, with the early advantage easily going to Wolves, as they looked to suffocate the Hammers and make sure they had no presence going in the opposite direction.
Moving into the second half it looked to be heading in a similar direction as the first, with Wolves on the attack early. Things would change near the 55th minute, as both teams made crucial changes, with Bowen for West Ham and Ait-Nouri for Wolves coming off, handicapping both teams heavily, as they are both crucial. However, it would affect Wolves more, as Ait-Nouri was leading most of their attacks forward on the ball, with all the momentum now shifting to the Hammers and Wolves struggling to get the ball out of their half.
This is when the second attacking plan of West Ham would come into play, as they were offered much more space in the opposition's half. It would become a much more testy match after this, as West Ham started to press more from all parts of the pitch after feeling Wolves slightly collapse, finally getting through in the 72nd minute after one of their crosses from the touchline found Max Kilman's arm, leading to a penalty and a goal after Paqueta put the penalty away.
Wolves appeared to have a full meltdown from this point on, not finding a stretch of momentum until the 90th minute, only seeing 0.06 xG in the second 45. The change of press in West Ham's tactics can be to blame for this, as they would not allow Wolves to string together more than a couple of passes before winning possession again.
However, it would finally all come falling at the Molineux in the 84th minute, as Ward-Prowse put in a goal from a corner kick, with his ball curling into the back post after going untouched from the flag to give the club a 2-1 comeback lead.
Wolves would see one more quality chance that looked to have been a goal from Kilman, but it was overturned after a controversial offside due to a player blocking the keeper.
Despite the early success from Wolves, the match would be completely turned on their heads, leading to West Ham's 2-1 win following a scrappy comeback. However, both goals came from a slight stroke of luck, as Wolves did appear to be the winner on the stat sheet, finishing with 58% possession, 14 shots, two big chances and 1.47 xG compared to West Ham's 42%, 11, two and 1.16, respectively. In the end, it came down to being able to play the full 90, with Wolves appearing to only show up for the first 45.
Man of the Match
I'll be going with two players for the Man of the Match award from Saturday's tilt, as I believe Ait-Nouri deserves his nod for his performance, with a slight belief that Wolves would've won if he stayed on after he powered them through the first half, carrying the ball in the majority of their attacks with his two shots, two touches in the opposing box and eight duels won in only 55 minutes of the field, while also drawing the penalty that led to their one goal. However, I also believe Ward-Prowse deserves some love, as he did score the game-winner while playing an influential role in the attack, registering one touch in the opposing box, five shots, six passes into the final third and eight duels won.
Upcoming Fixtures
Wolves' next five games will be an up-and-down journey, as they face three teams in the bottom 10 while also facing two top-three teams. They begin with Nottingham on Saturday before a battle with Arsenal and Bournemouth. They then end the month against Luton Town before starting May against Manchester City.
West Ham's road is a bit more challenging, as they have two UEL quarterfinal matches against Leverkusen on April 11 and 18. Luckily, their Premier League schedule is somewhat subdued, starting with Fulham and Crystal Palace before finishing the month against Liverpool. May will then begin against Chelsea and Luton Town.
Looking Ahead
Wolves, at this point, are just looking to finish as high in the table as possible to earn a slightly better check from the FA, as they are far from the relegation battle in 11th but are now seven points off from a European competition spot, with that most likely being out of reach unless there is a massive collapse from multiple teams.
West Ham will look to continue closing the gap on United for sixth place and a possible spot in the Conference League next season, although they will have to hope whoever wins the FA Cup is already in the UCL or UEL for that spot to open up. They will also look to continue their run in the UEL and hopefully be crowned Champions after winning the Conference League last season, as that would solidify their place in the UCL next campaign.
Gameweek 33 Preview
We will be looking into Tottenham for the first time next week, as they will visit St. James' Park on Saturday to face Newcastle. The two teams currently sit 13 points apart in the table, although the competitive levels of each team are not too far off from each other. They both field two of the stronger teams in England, and we should be in for an exciting goal-to-goal match, with both teams providing beautiful sparks of perfection in the attack.
