WHZ Tactics: How West Ham can keep Jack Grealish quiet on Monday
West Ham welcome Aston Villa to the London Stadium on Monday and there’s no doubt where most of David Moyes’ focus will be aimed during pre-match preparations.
Jack Grealish has been one of the most outstanding players in the opening months of the 2020/21 season with the 25-year-old scoring four goals and supplying six assists in eight Premier League appearances.
According to stats by WyScout, the England international has the best success rate in the Premier League for one-v-one dribbles [71.11%] and no one has touched the ball more in the penalty area than him per 90 minutes of league football [8.2].
Grealish is also the most fouled player in England’s top-flight, winning 35 fouls in his eight appearances or 4.04 every 90 minutes.
West Ham will have their hands full this weekend against what is arguably the league’s best playmaker but there are definitely ways to keep the Brummie ace quiet.
There have been games this season where Grealish has been kept quiet with Leicester and Brighton perhaps doing the best jobs.
Last week, Villa were beaten 2-1 by the Seagulls at Villa Park with Graham Potter’s team doing a great job at stopping the England man impacting the game better than most sides this term.
You can see in the image below how Grealish’s heatmap against Brighton looked very different to his heatmap for the entire season so far [WyScout].
Grealish was kept outside of the penalty area, with stats showing that he managed just five touches inside the box against Brighton when his season average per 90 minutes is 8.2.
But how did Brighton manage that?
Potter utilised a 4-4-2 formation at Villa Park but according to WyScout, the south coast club started every single game with a back-three before last weekend’s action.
That switch in formation came at a price.
Brighton rank fifth in the Premier League for possession (56.3%) this season but against Aston Villa, Potter’s side saw just 41.5 per cent of the ball – by far their lowest tally of the season and also the first time they saw less of the ball than their opposition.
Is it that simple? Did Brighton keep Grealish quiet simply by playing a flat back-four and playing more conservatively?
Moyes has started with a back-three in every game since the opening day defeat to Newcastle so a sudden change in system could be needed if the Scot wants to see Grealish kept quiet on Monday.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie has predicted Monday’s scoreline and delivered his thoughts on Grealish.