FAWSL 2019/20: Manchester City Women vs West Ham United Women – tactical analysis

Manchester City Women hosted West Ham United Women in the FAWSL on Sunday. The hosts stood third in the FAWSL table below Arsenal Women and Chelsea Women and eagerly looked to gain three points after losing out in the Champions League recently. West Ham have been struggling this season despite the quality of players that they boast and faced a stiff opposition from the Manchester side. In this tactical analysis we will examine how both teams worked their tactics against each other.

Lineups

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ellie Roebuck, Janine Beckie, Steph Houghton, Gemma Bonner, Demi Stokes, Jill Scott, Caroline Weir, Tessa Wullaert Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway, Ellen White

Subs: Megan Campbell, Pauline Bremer, Tyler Toland, Jess Park, Lee Geum-min,  Karima Benameur, Matilde Fidalgo

West Ham (4-5-1): Anna Moorhouse, Cecilie Redisch Kvamme, Gilly Flaherty, Laura Vetterlein, Katharina Baunach, Tessel Middag, Kenza Dali, Adriana Leon, Kate Longhurst, Alisha Lehmann, Leanne Kiernan

Subs: Brooke Hendrix, Jacynta Galabadaarachchi, Courtney Brosnan, Wiktoria Kiszkis

Tactical Breakdown

The hosts, coached by Nick Cushing lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Scott and Weir playing as a double-pivot, Hemp and Wullaert operating the flanks and Stanway playing just behind White who played as the target player. In Houghton and Bonner, City had two central defenders who were very comfortable with the ball at their feet. Their game principles were quick buildup to progress through the thirds and feed the ball into the wide flanks for their wingers to chase after. The approach in the final third was very direct and they did not seek to spend a lot of time in possession. This is evident by looking at the statistics. City only had 47% of possession during the game, yet they registered 28 shots with 10 on target.

Out of possession, City would press in a 4-4-2 formation with Stanway and White splitting up and cutting the passing lanes to the midfield from the defence. The wingers would work back defensively and apply pressure on West Ham’s wide players.

West Ham, led by Matt Beard opted for a 4-5-1 formation, crowding the midfield and leaving Leon up to press. Leon would often alternate with one of the midfielders as the central striker with the priority being to deny City’s midfielders a lot of space in the centre. They defended narrow leaving a lot of space in the wide areas for City to exploit which would have worked fine had they made most of the 53% possession that they had during the game. We shall further see in this analysis why West Ham failed to trouble City at all.

Man City attacking organisation

City’s biggest strength in attack was the technical ability of their central defenders to be comfortable with the ball and distribute them effectively. This gave players like Houghton and Bonner lot of room to find forward players with a diagonal long ball. From early on, we could see the strategy to find Hemp and Wullaert with plenty of space down the flanks because of West Ham’s tendency to defend narrow. After sending the ball wide, the wingers would immediately feed the ball back inside for attacking players like White or Stanway.