WHZ Tactics: Cresswell class again as West Ham beat Leeds 2-0
Aaron Cresswell had another impressive display on Monday evening as West Ham defeated Leeds 2-0 at the London Stadium.
The Hammers left-back went toe-to-toe with the skilful winger Raphinha. Leeds’ Brazilian trickster was up to his usual antics but was unable to have a meaningful impact on the game by the final whistle.
As well as improving defensively, Cresswell is proving to be a creative force himself in the league this season. He set up the second West Ham goal on Monday, a towering header from Craig Dawson.
Cresswell had seen his freekick deflected wide for a corner before the goal. He then put in a fantastic inswinging cross that Dawson slammed home. The left-back was unlucky not to have two assists. He provided another chance for Dawson who this time hit the post with a header. It would have had us 3-0 up within 30 minutes.
That’s nine assists in the top-flight for Cresswell this season, his best-ever return. He simply loves playing against Leeds. The number three also registered both assists in the reverse fixture, providing headed goals for Tomas Soucek and Angelo Ogbonna.
The 2-1 win earlier in the season was a completely different game to this. West Ham had to defend a lot more at the London Stadium, and Cresswell led by example. While Raphinha was dangerous, the Englishman tried to stay as close as he could to him. Over the 90 minutes, he made eight interceptions and eight possession recoveries. [WyScout]
As recently covered on West Ham Zone, the left-back has improved his defensive positioning greatly since Moyes returned. An example of this can be seen below – Cresswell is looking to press Raphinha before he even receives possession.
As the Brazilian receives the ball, our number three is pushing him away from our box and keeps him facing his own goal. At this time in the match, Raphinha was very lively. Leeds were looking to get him on the ball so he could get them back into the game, but Cresswell denied him.
He doesn’t at any point dive into a tackle as he knows Raphinha has the ability to turn the other way. This discipline is something Cresswell has added to his game well over the past 12 months. He allows the winger to hold onto the ball for three or four seconds before putting a foot in and winning the ball back for us.
Raphinha still forced two good saves from Fabianski, but Cresswell worked very hard to limit his success in the game. It wasn’t the sort of performance we’ve praised him for commonly in the past, but his defensive work deserves recognition.
He will face more tough opposition this week. We travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, where he could line up against Mason Greenwood, Daniel James or Marcus Rashford. More of the same please, Cressy!
In other West Ham news, McAvennie agrees with Rice’s view of the Leeds performance.