West Ham United have had a good season under David Moyes so far. After 17 games, the Hammers have 26 points, with the gap to the top four being just three points, although some teams such as Tottenham have played one game less. In the summer, they let good attacking players such as Felipe Anderson and Grady Diangana leave the team, doubting their ability to contribute consistently in the Premier League. However, they have scored one more goal than Arsenal and have the same number of goals as Manchester City, which shows that despite letting those players go, they have not really struggled too much from an attacking sense.
A key source of goals this season has been from set-pieces. To understand the secret behind their set-piece tactics, this set-piece analysis will introduce the main ideas in play at West Ham’s attacking corners.
Offensive corners
West Ham have a lot of players with physical advantages compared to the rest of the league. According to Transfermarkt, there are at least three players taller than 190cm in the first team – Issa Diop (194cm), Angelo Ogbonna (191cm) and Tomáš Souček (192cm). Along with them, the likes of Michail Antonio and Declan Rice are either muscular or not extremely short, which also gives them a huge advantage from offensive dead ball situations.
Overview and basic setups
Firstly, this analysis will give a brief overview of West Ham’s offensive corners. The image below shows all of their shots taken following a corner this season. There are some clear notable patterns:
- Deliveries from the left are usually out-swingers
- Deliveries from the right are usually in-swingers
- The edge of the six-yard box is a frequent target from both sides
- Most of West Hams attempts, and all their goals, have come from the shaded area
- Almost no shots have been generated around the penalty spot
- Almost no attempts from outside of the penalty box
- All goals were registered in the six-yard box
So, how did they achieve this? We have to understand the basic setup of West Ham from corners. One of their most frequently-used patterns is noted below:
- 1 player in the six-yard box to disrupt the keeper
- 1 player at the edge of the six-yard box/spaces outside of the zonal chains
- 2+ players starting at the penalty spot, standing in a vertical chain
The West Ham players overload central areas, allowing which creates space on either side to be attacked, or used as a running lane to get into the six-yard box. From this basic setup, the Hammers could also add players to serve specific tactical purposes. For example, adding a player on the right or left of the vertical chain to attack the front post or serve as a screener.
