Xabi Alonso says West Ham United’s ‘high pressing’ caused ‘so many problems’
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso has praised West Ham United’s performance in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final, claiming that the Hammers’ “high pressing” caused “so many problems” and that they were “the best team at half-time”.
The Premier League side dominated the opening 45 minutes, with Jarrod Bowen finding Michail Antonio to open the scoring as West Ham pushed to overturn their 2-0 first-leg deficit.
However, Leverkusen rallied in the second half and were able to snatch a late equaliser through Jeremie Frimpong, ensuring that their unbeaten run remained unbroken and securing passage to the semi-finals.
Alonso was very complimentary of the Hammers after the game, and was quoted by Hammers News as saying: “To be honest, they have done really well in the first 45 minutes, we had so many problems with their high pressing.
“We were not comfortable in our structure trying to find the free one, they were sometimes jumping to a double six and we were not able to find any flow.
“It meant some soft, easy lost balls around our box and the momentum from West Ham, they had the feeling that they had that and they score that goal.
“Yes, to be honest the best team at half-time was clear in the result. Happily, we had a reaction in the second half. We [had] to change a few things, but the first 45 were not easy.
“It was tough for me [to take the Odilon Kossounou off after half an hour] but sometimes you have to take action, to take responsibility. It’s not nice for a player to be substituted that early but he had the yellow card [and] we had problems with the build-up in that area.
“West Ham, they have good players, good energy and credit to them, we found it really hard [because] they were totally different to what they did in Leverkusen.”
West Ham United’s first-half performance is exactly what fans have been demanding from David Moyes
Many West Ham fans watching the first half of the 1-1 draw with Leverkusen at the London Stadium on 18 April will surely have been overjoyed and frustrated in equal measure.
On the one hand, the performance they witnessed before the break was exactly what they have been crying out for under David Moyes. The Hammers pressed high, were aggressive and took the game to their opponents despite not being considered the favourites.
At the break, they were deservedly leading 1-0, having generated 1.21 xG to their opponents’ 0.02, taking 10 shots to Leverkusen’s one [FotMob].
Alonso’s men regained control in the second period, but a draw against a side that came into the clash as Bundesliga winners and unbeaten in 43 games across all competitions is a creditable result, even if it saw them crash out of the Europa League.
What fans will struggle to comprehend is why the team have not produced this style of performance more frequently – much of the criticism aimed at Moyes has its roots in a lament against the cautious, low-block set-up employed by the Scotsman.
If West Ham continue to play like this between now and the end of the season, the general feeling towards Moyes may just begin to shift.
In other West Ham news, the club are readying bid to sign Ipswich Town star Leif Davis.
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