Millwall Analysis: How did Lions drop points against West Ham United from position of complete dominance?

MILLWALL supporters could hardly have dreamt of a better first half from their side against West Ham United.

The Lions dominated the opening 45 minutes and went in at the break two goals up.

It could have been more. Millwall got into some really good attacking positions, particularly through Tairyk Arconte, but couldn't take advantage of them.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side were rattled and barely threatened in the opening half. Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall was a virtual spectator as the majority of action happened at the other end of the pitch.

If Millwall could just have added one more goal in the second half…but instead it was the visitors that stunned The Den with two goals in seven minutes to drag it back to 2-2.

This game is one that Millwall will kick themselves they didn't win.

From first-half dominance to second-half setbacks

Millwall arguably produced their best half of football this season in the opening 45 minutes against West Ham. The Lions dominated duels, second balls, set-pieces. They were more physical. It was led by the outstanding Jenson Metcalfe and Zak Sturge, the latter who was up against Jarrod Bowen. Metcalfe's intentions were clear right from the first minute when he went through Bowen. (Referee Paul Tierney also deserves big credit for not reaching for the yellow cards early on.)

West Ham didn't win a corner until the 50th minute. After 21 minutes, Millwall had sixteen touches in the opposition box. The Hammers had none. The away side had one touch after 30 minutes and that was going away from goal.

The shot map after 38 minutes read 13-1 to Millwall.

It was almost total dominance from the Lions in terms of playing in West Ham's half, creating chances, earning set-pieces from which to threaten in the opponents' box, including from the two Lyndon Dykes throw-ins that led to the goals.

As the first half went on West Ham looked like they didn't want any part of it.

Mark Sykes was handed a specific role by Alex Neil. He started on the right side of the attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation. But he was often deployed in central midfield when West Ham had the ball.

Here he is on the same line as the deepest-lying midfielder, Derek Mazou-Sacko, who was also outstanding in the first half. Metcalfe is in front of Mazou-Sacko, with Dykes dropping deep to form a defensive box shape:

Next, Sykes is back alongside Mazou-Sacko winning back the ball:

And here Sykes is in the centre of the pitch higher up to make an interception before passing to Tairyk Arconte:

Sykes's audacious shot from 40 yards that rattled the crossbar also came after he picked up a loose ball from a position in central midfield:

Those three players, Sykes, Metcalfe and Mazou-Sacko, set the physical and energetic tone for the hosts.

Here is another example of that box shape in midfield with West Ham on the ball:

Millwall were supremely well-organised out of possession. In the image below, Sturge has jumped into midfield from left-back and Mazou-Sacko has gone in to cover for him:

In co-commentary on Millwall TV , Lions midfielder Massimo Luongo said the home side were showing how to control the game without the ball.

West Ham's plan was to push their central midfielders - Arne Engels and Divine Mukasa - into wide positions to receive the ball...

...but Millwall invariably had them covered, through Sykes in the first image and Neghli in the second image with Dykes pushing forward to pressure the centre-back.

It meant the Hammers had little platform in central midfield.

Meanwhile, Millwall attacked quickly when they won the ball back, with Arconte so often on the last line of the visiting defence ready to run in behind:

Had Arconte had a better touch or chosen the correct pass, Millwall could have been in for more goal chances.

Millwall did get their second goal just before half-time from Neghli and it was nothing less than their dominance deserved.

So how did Millwall cede the advantage from such a strong position?

Second-half turnaround

Nuno Espirito Santo made two half-time substitutions. He brought on midfielder Mohamadou Kante for Kyle Walker-Peters and switched to three at the back. Pablo replaced Joel Piroe up front.

Engels sat in front of the defence while Kante and Musaka were in front of him.

Kante immediately started to make forward runs, something West Ham had lacked from midfield in the first half. In this image, Sykes is forced to track his run into a central defensive position:

In the first half, we saw how Millwall attacked directly in transition and created good attacking opportunities. With Kante now in a midfield three, West Ham were able to counter that. Here, Kante wins the ball off Metcalfe as he was trying to find Dykes in space:

Pablo has dropped deep and he picks up the loose ball to lead a counter. The move ends with Marschall saving Bowen's deflected shot and then clawing the ball away from the feet of Kante.

Pablo was a much more aggressive presence than the relatively passive Piroe, giving his side a more direct attacking threat.

West Ham had threatened Millwall's goal more in the first seven minutes of the second half than they had in the whole of the opening 45 minutes.

Kante almost had a free role in midfield. Moments after he had been on the left wing he was sprinting off the shoulder of Jake Cooper on to a pass:

I wrote in my newsletter at the weekend that I would be surprised if Neil made a similar defensive change against the Hammers. That was in the context of bringing on a fifth defender, Elkan Baggott, against Middlesbrough, which I argued was the right one and ultimately it paid off and helped to secure a point.

So I was surprised when I saw Baggott being summoned and given instructions in the 60th minute. West Ham had improved, but they weren't overwhelming Millwall's goal. The Lions were still defending their box well.

But with Sykes tiring from the enormous effort he had put in, Neil clearly felt he didn't have a like-for-like replacement on the bench.

We saw in the first half how Millwall pressed West Ham's two centre-backs and midfielders. The visitors couldn't get their full-backs into the game and were often forced to go long.

Now in the build-up from the back, the Hammers had an extra centre-back and an extra midfielder. It was more difficult for Arconte, Dykes and Metcalfe to press them, and they were able to work the ball up the pitch:

This move ended with Marschall tipping Pablo's header over the bar.

When Baggott came on for Sykes in the 70th minute, Neghli moved into a central position from the left wing to get close to Kante. Here, Neghli is gesturing at Arconte to drop on to Engles. Arconte appears to be asking Metcalfe to push up on to Engels. There is simply far too much space for Millwall's pressing players to cover, and West Ham work the ball to Manor Solomon who drives forward and the visitors win a corner.

West Ham's extra players in the build-up :

Meanwhile, West Ham's first goal came from one of their substitutes, Edvin Austbo, pressing high and winning possession from an exhausted Metcalfe. (Austbo was a £10million summer signing, showing what Millwall are up against in the division, even without their extensive injury list.)

Millwall are back defending their box, and Dykes can't get over to block Kante's shot:

The game was now essentially attack versus defence.

In the sequence leading up to the equaliser, Millwall players were heading away, blocking, intercepting, but the waves of attacks kept coming.

West Ham's leveller came from a short corner from Bowen to Solomon. Arconte tried to get out to help Neghli but couldn't get there in time:

From the cross, Konstantinos Mavropanos lost his marker Jake Cooper to head in.

Millwall still had the chance to win it when Kyrell Lisbie went through one-on-one a minute from time only to be fouled by Kante, who was sent off.

West Ham's substitutes made the difference. The Lions didn't have the energy to match them. Neil didn't have the options on the bench. Perhaps had Mathis Servais seen some match action this season he would have been the one to replace Sykes and provide Millwall with that extra energy further up the pitch.

Instead, West Ham had spare players in their build-up, with Kante the key player.

Millwall dropped four points after leading 2-0 in their last two games before the international break. There is naturally disappointment, especially after the Dockers Derby had promised so much. But against two sides expected to challenge for automatic promotion, with far greater resources, and with the Lions so depleted and unable to make the substitutions to counter their opponents', they could be seen as two valuable points gained.