VFTN Analysis

The VFTN Analysis: West Ham United 3-1 Cardiff City

Another Premier League away loss for Cardiff City as the Bluebirds were hit 3-1 by West Ham United. But how did the Bluebirds do? We find out in the VFTN Analysis.

Have you read Terry Phillips’ Match report and player ratings?

Systems

City returned to a 4-3-3 system, with Victor Camarasa and Junior Hoilett flanking Callum Paterson up top.

West Ham United lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system, with Mark Noble and Declan Rice at the base of midfield.

What the stats say

West Ham dominated possession, there’s no shock there, but Cardiff did manage to threaten West Ham’s goal. 9 shots with 5 on target is a decent return, but at this level, you have to be dominant and hit the back of the net when presented with chances.

Cardiff show the importance of recycling the ball

One of the things that have stood out this season has been Cardiff’s ability to recycle the ball. While Cardiff haven’t been as emphatic at set-pieces as last season, they have been brilliant at recycling the second ball from a set-piece.

We saw it against Wolves, Aron Gunnarsson’s goal coming from Harry Arter keeping the ball alive. Against West Ham, the Bluebirds did it again, winning a penalty after Victor Camarasa had recycled the ball and played it back into the West Ham penalty area following a clearance from a corner.

Gunnar has become one of City’s most important players

Rewind a couple of months and Aron Gunnarsson was a bit of a forgotten man. He’d missed pre-season with an injury and Warnock started the season with Joe Ralls as a holding midfielder.

Since coming into the side against Fulham, Gunnars not looked back. The Icelandic midfielder has been a crucial part of the team. On Tuesday, that was clearly evident.

While West Ham did score 3 goals, Gunnarsson was important in breaking up potential counter attacks. In the example below, West Ham have cleared a City corner and are looking to hit us on the break, but Gunnarsson was twice able to break up the counter-attack.

Cardiff continue to show frailties at set-pieces

One of the most frustrating aspects of the season so far for Neil Warnock and Cardiff fans has been Cardiff’s inability to dominate set-pieces. Last season, Cardiff’s biggest strength was at set-pieces, both attacking and defending.

Cardiff have conceded more goals than anyone at set-pieces. That continued at the London Stadium as Michail Antonio headed home for West Ham’s third.

It will anger Warnock, who spoke to Sky Sports after the Wolves game about getting his players to be more reactive in the box. That just didn’t happen as a number of West Ham players stole a march on City’s defenders. Javier Hernandez jumps in front of Joe Bennett, Antonio beats Arter and Paterson, Rice is ahead of Bruno Manga and Ogbonna is free.

Summary

Cardiff weren’t awful and shouldn’t be too disappointed in themselves. Joe Ralls’ penalty miss was a key turning point as Cardiff heads dropped and West Ham found confidence.

It was a learning curve for Warnock’s side. Miss a good chance (and you don’t get many!) and you will get punished. Cardiff also need to do major work on set-pieces to ensure they do not ship cheap goals as the season progresses.

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