Bournemouth earned their first ever Premier League win away at Upton park, as they punished a shambolic defensive display from West Ham.
Thanks to a calamitous pair of errors from Aaron Cresswell, West Ham were two goals down early in this home tie. They departed the pitch at half time amid a furious, caustic chorus of boos. Bournemouth’s energy and directness had rattled Slaven Bilic’s team, particularly the defenders, and the home fans were desperate for a response. The home side exploded back out for the second half, snatching back two goals of their own to level the match. But then, after conceding once again on the counter, Carl Jenkinson killed any hope by committing a woeful foul on Max Gradel, conceding a penalty and forcing the referee to dismiss him. Bournemouth saw the match out, just, winning 4-3.
Formations
Normally the sight of a club captain taking the field is not a particularly rare one, let alone something that should worry the ticket-buying faithful. But here, Kevin Nolan’s name on the team sheet was, if not unexpected considering the striking injury issues West Ham are currently limping through, then at least unfamiliar, certainly of late. It was a selection that forced a highly narrow attack. Had, say, Matt Jarvis been selected then this would not have been the case. As such, the full-backs were, one assumed, given a demanding brief to cover all the duties on the wings. Additionally, the announced lineups confirmed the presence of Darren Randolph in goal for the Hammers. For him, the memories of the 8-0 loss to Bournemouth with his former side Birmingham were likely still fresh in the mind.
West Ham United XI (4-3-3): Randolph; Jenkinson, Ogbonna, Reid, Cresswell; Obiang, Kouyate, Noble; Nolan, Payet, Sakho.
Bournemouth were unchanged from last week at Liverpool, a standard 4-4-2, with Wilson and King the tandem up front. Max Gradel and Matt Ritchie were well placed to terrorise on the wings, and the back four, stalwarts all, remained in place as normal.
AFC Bournemouth XI (4-4-2): Boruc; Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels; Ritchie, O’Kane, Surman, Gradel; King, Wilson.
Nolan’s redundancy continues, on the bench or not
Nolan, sprung from idleness as he was by Bilic, started as very much a second striker, looking to feed on anything scrappy or recycled. Consequentially, his defensive and playmaking responsibilities were modest in the extreme; this is the best role for the club captain. His goalscoring senses have been proven over multiple seasons and much of the ire aimed at him last season was due to the fact that his highly specific, goal-oriented skillset forced West Ham to abandon the handsome style they had played under during his time out. Nolan has a fine goalscoring record but, alas, he has not found the net too often lately. Sadly, he is only useful when he is scoring, and perhaps, captain or not, a one-trick pony has no place in a Premier League team, no matter how tactically sheltered his flaws are. Bilic might well realise this now, as Nolan was substituted at half time for Jarvis.
Wilson pounced on a bedraggled Hammers defence
Bournemouth’s goal came from a horrendous error from Aaron Cresswell. It was The Cherries’ and Wilson’s first in the Premier League, and, after Cresswell’s gift, the goal was crafted and finished with crispness. Individual errors can hardly be covered for tactically, but the run-heavy brief that both West Ham full-backs were given meant that, aside from being run ragged, Cresswell and Jenkinson had to constantly be switching mindsets. As if to demonstrate, a few minutes after his goal-allowing error, Cresswell performed a nutmeg in the Bournemouth defensive third, and swept in a clean cross, only to make another error in his own half a few moments later. Jenkinson too was caught dithering twice in the first half, and only a rushed recovering tackle on Gradel stopped a second goal from flying in. As it happened, Cresswell obliged Wilson for Bournemouth’s second goal, another atrocious decision on Cresswell’s part. A scuffed back-pass sent through Wilson who lashed the ball home. Then, to top it off, Jenkinson stupidly fouled Gradel in the second half, after dithering once again, earning himself a red card and the Cherries a penalty. Wilson took it, scored it, and completed his hat-trick. To be so distracted, hapless and irrational is highly out of character for both West Ham full-backs. Could carrying the full weight of providing the attacking width for the team be too arduous a task?
Kouyate’s rangy vigour offering necessary spritz to the attack
Kevin Nolan was a static, lurking presence, so Chiekhou Kouyate was forced to provide extra penetrative vigour to the attack, particularly in the first half. Diafra Sakho is a more than willing runner, but he alone can be handled by a defence, and he was covered by Elphick and Cook for much of the match. Kouyate has played as a centre-back, a defensive midfielder, and now a utility attacker for West Ham. His rangy powerful running is irresistible, and it provided for West Ham a few glimpses of attacking promise in the first half. Without him, the West Ham attack would have truly been non-existent in the opening half. Those long legs were first to a rebound in the second half, bringing West Ham level after Mark Noble’s penalty had cut the Bournemouth lead in half. It was his second goal in three games to start the season.
Howe’s wingers were dispatched perfectly
Ritchie and Gradel caused mayhem in the opening half an hour, and their needling shredded both the West Ham full-backs. With Kouyate, Nolan and Payet offering precious little in terms of protection, and Noble and Obiang protecting largely central midfield areas, Cresswell and Jenkinson were there for the taking, and take them Howe’s boys did. With West Ham’s injury situation forcing a narrow diamond formation in the first half, Howe’s traditional, touchline-hugging wingers were the ideal tactical counter-punch. Cresswell and Jenkinson were ragged and unfocused as a result of their end-to-end mandate, and although the opening two goals were catalysed by terrible errors, this Bournemouth formation was primed not only to capitalise on, but force, exactly these types of errors.
Bilic’s substitutions
In a first half where two goals were shipped, and even with West Ham awful generally, it was clear to anyone watching that the full-backs were the problem. So when James Tomkins, who started at full-back in the win against Arsenal, began warming up around half an hour in, most assumed that it would be Cresswell who would be departing. In fact it would be Angelo Ogbonna, who had performed admirably up until that point, who was removed. The crowd made vocal their perplexity, as Ogbonna, seemingly uninjured, trudged off. Certainly the substitution had no obvious effect on the remainder of the half.
Then a half time substitution was made, Nolan taken off for Jarvis. This, mixed in, no doubt, with an urgent half time team talk by Bilic, transformed the Hammers. Suddenly they were urgent in attack, and Jarvis and Kouyate were sitting wider, offering the full-backs more cover, with Payet behind the lone striker Sakho. Essentially, it was a more conventional 4-2-3-1. West Ham leveled the scores within 10 minutes of the resumption. Finally, though his goal turned out to be nothing more than a consolation, Modibo Maiga, Bilic’s third substitute, scratched his name onto the scoresheet. As far as telling substitutions go, well, two out of three ain’t bad.
West Ham United Conclusion
West Ham were stunned by Bournemouth’s bombardment down the wings, and their full-backs had put them in a hole by half time. After valiantly hauling themselves out of it, Jenkinson shoved them straight back down into it in the second half, and they ended the match there.
AFC Bournemouth Conclusion
Eddie Howe’s side, though their defending was suspect at times, wholly earned their win. They occupied the spaces that West Ham’s starting formation left for them, and exploited their opponents’ weakness on the flanks with aplomb.
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