West Ham Vs Stoke: 6 Ways Big Sam Can Hammer The Potters

2. Let Kevin Nolan Do His Thing

He may have been criticised from some sections of the West Ham support since his £5.5million move from Newcastle last summer, but Kevin Nolan is an invaluable member of the West Ham team, because of his clinical eye for goal, and his positional sense as an attacking midfielder. So far this season, the former Bolton man has already impressively scored 5 goals from 9 starts, including last week's effort against his former side, and though his value to the team is often limited to the final third of the pitch, it is precisely those areas that he is so deadly. He rarely loses the ball, and in the first eight games of the season - according to Opta - he enjoyed an impressive 81% pass completion rate, had 18 shots, including 8 on target and had chipped in 2 assists to go with his goals. His tackling success rate for the same period (54%) might not be particularly impressive, but West Ham need Nolan on his feet and heading towards the box rather than on his backside on the grass, so it is arguably the least important stat in his game. Most importantly, Nolan has a knack for finding space in the box and for making himself available to shoot, which invariably leads to more goals - other attacking midfielders in the league tend to run with the ball before making a shot, but Nolan's intent is always to get into a position to benefit from balls coming into the box, and when his team are attacking he is effectively another striker - and an invaluable one at that, in terms of his prolific return.
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