WHZ Tactics: Irons must stop Semi Ajayi – West Brom’s secret weapon
West Ham welcome Sam Allardyce’s West Brom side to the London Stadium on Tuesday night and Semi Ajayi will be a man to pay close attention to.
The Nigerian defender has become a goalscoring hero for the Albion this season and is among their top goalscorers this season.
Ajayi has scored two goals for West Brom following Big Sam’s arrival at The Hawthorns and following something of a striker crisis, the defender’s threat in the final third has become a very useful weapon.
The ex-Rotherham man has two goals to his name, with one coming away to Anfield and another during the Black Country derby on Saturday.
Throughout the game against Wolves, Allardyce opted to push Ajayi on into the final third whenever the opportunity arose.
Standing at 6ft 3in, Ajayi is an imposing figure and it shows as he battles against opposition defenders.
Below, we see the position that Ajayi takes up to score an equaliser for West Brom against Wolves.
Looking more like the centre-forward, Ajayi pins himself up against the central defender and after a flick-on from Kyle Bartley, he sends a looping header into the far post.
As per WhoScored, Ajayi won an impressive eight aerial duels against West Brom – more than any other player on the pitch.
West Brom’s strikers have scored just two Premier League goals between them this season, so this is a tactic we can expect to see continue at the London Stadium, with Big Sam very much aware that he has to improvise if he wants to give Albion more of a goalscoring threat.
While his physical strength is impressive, the height that Ajayi can gain from a standing leap is quite incredible.
Below, we see the defender’s brilliant header against Liverpool, where he completely outjumps Fabinho – who himself is not exactly short at 6ft 2in – to give Albion a shock equaliser.
With that in mind, West Ham must do everything they can to avoid giving away any cheap free-kicks against West Brom.
No matter in what area of the pitch, it was a constant tactic that Big Sam looked to try against Wolves. With any free-kick that Albion won, Ajayi would join the attack and a long ball would be sent into the box.
Having conceded eight times from set-pieces this season, as per WhoScored, the Irons will need to be at their best to stop Ajayi.
West Brom will no doubt buoyant after a dramatic win at Molineux, so stopping Ajayi will be a great way to limiting their threat on Tuesday night.
In other West Ham news, the club have set a £70m asking price as Man United and Chelsea eye summer Rice deals