Sam Allardyce spent four years at West Ham.placeholder image
Sam Allardyce spent four years at West Ham. | AFP via Getty Images
Former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce gave a seven-point survival plan to Sky Sports in 2017.
West Ham are facing the reality of a relegation scrap this season as a dismal start to the Premier League campaign continues. The Hammers were beaten 2-1 by Leeds United on Friday night and sit 19th in the division, four points off safety.
Following that defeat at Elland Road, former West Ham shot-stopper Rob Green urged the club to go back to basics to ensure their position in the top flight. The goalkeeper didn’t ask the club to re-appoint former manager Sam Allardyce, but did suggest adopting some of his basic training exercises.
West Ham conceded their ninth goal from a corner this season against Leeds United. Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Green said: “There’s one thing they can go and do. Go and stand on the training pitch and do it over and over again. You do that every day until you’re sick in the teeth of it and you’re so bored, that you think, when it comes to a game - the one thing we are not doing is conceding from a corner. Because I don’t want to go out there next week and stand there day after day after day doing set pieces.
“That’s the only thing they can do. We did it under Sam Allardyce, he said ‘you’re not very good at this, we’re repeating, repeating, repeating’, that was at West Ham and it worked. You do it to repetition, to ad nauseum, and then you go out and you repeat on the pitch. Until they repeat it on the pitch, they are not giving themselves a chance.”
West Ham must solve set piece woes
Allardyce, known for his work with clubs fighting relegation, outlined his blueprint for survival to Sky Sports in 2017 and it might make fundamental reading for West Ham. In his seven-point plan, there was a specific outline for set plays.
Big Sam said: "It comes from working on the training ground. Every week it's just a case of highlighting who we're playing against, what they try to do from set pieces, and who each player is going to mark.
"The players need to remember when you go out on the pitch that these are very important times in the game. I think on average more than 30 per cent of Premier League goals come from set plays now.
"If you don't coach it or show your players how to defend it then you can play as well as you want, you can be on top of the game as much as you want, but one set play can give the opposition the goal that gets them ahead."
Sam Allardyce outlines Premier League survival blueprint
Other points included the need for clean sheets, something that West Ham have not managed once this season. Allardyce said: "It only takes one goal to win a game. Clean sheets give you the platform to be successful in a season. You can't always score two or three goals."
The former manager, who last worked at Leeds United in 2023, also included the importance of not losing possession in your own half, playing the first pass forward and winning the knock-downs. Nuno Espirito Santo himself had underlined the importance of winning those challenges prior to failing to do so against Leeds United.
Allardyce said: "If you're static, you're not going to put yourself in a good position to win the ball. If you get on the move when the ball is on the move, then you can adjust or get into a position where you might be able to regain possession.”
In other news, West Ham battling Aston Villa to sign 'fantastic' ex Graham Potter Chelsea favourite.
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