5/10 match rating: West Ham star who lost the ball 18x was “absolutely wasted” v Spurs – opinion

 

The Hammers star was totally ineffective in his new position on Thursday night.

West Ham United found themselves at the centre of a lot of conversations leading into the season; whether it was about their transfer policy, their expectations for the season, or the viability of keeping David Moyes as manager for another year, the Hammers were never far from the headlines.

When it comes to the Premier League, however, the Eastenders have endured a mixed campaign thus far, with a home draw to Crystal Palace on Sunday perhaps one of their more frustrating results.

Nevertheless, Moyes and his men got back on track in the best way possible this week: beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away from home.

After a questionable first half, the men in Claret and Blue came out like a house on fire in the second 45 and blew their north London opponents away. Yet, there was one player who was rather anonymous throughout his 90 minutes on the pitch – Lucas Paqueta.

Lucas Paqueta’s game against Spurs in numbers
Paqueta is one of the most entertaining players to watch in the league when he is at his silky best and was one of the Hammers’ most influential players last season with seven-goal involvements in his 27 league starts, but he was simply ineffective against Spurs.

Moyes opted to play the mercurial Brazilian on the left wing against the Lilywhites, and while he did score from this position against Nottingham Forest, he was totally ineffective in N17, leading to West Ham fan and journalist Dan Woffenden branding him “absolutely wasted” out wide.

Malik Ouzi of the Evening Standard shared that sentiment, as he gave the former Lyon man a 5/10 in his post-match player ratings, highlighting the fact that he was not categorically abysmal, just anonymous.

 

In his 96 minutes on the pitch, the 26-year-old took just two shots – one of which was on target – succeeded in one of his five attempted dribbles, took 70 touches, and maintained a passing accuracy of 77%. He also made one key pass, lost possession of the ball 18 times, and missed one big chance. as per Sofascore.

The miss, just before halftime, was probably the most memorable thing about Paqueta’s game on Thursday night, which is generally not a good sign.

Luckily for the Hammers, their other winger on the night, Jarrod Bowen, was far more effective.

Jarrod Bowen’s game in numbers
Starting on the right for West Ham against Spurs was a fan favourite, Bowen.

The former Hull City winger put in a performance in stark contrast to his silky teammate, finding himself involved in almost everything good the team did against Spurs.

The first thing to note is that he managed to get himself onto the scoresheet, pulling the Hammers level in the second half, just seven minutes after the restart.

The goal means that he has scored in every away league game he has played this season, joining Robin van Persie and Sergio Aguero as the only players to have scored in seven consecutive Premier League away games.

It was then his closing down from Destiny Udogie’s weak back pass that presented James Ward-Prowse with the opportunity to score the winning goal.

Outside the involvement in the two goals, his numbers are not massively impressive, but that is what great players do: impact games even when they’re not at their best.

As per Sofascore, the honorary Dyer made 31 touches, attempted one dribble, made one key pass, succeeded with one of his two crosses, won four of his nine ground duels, and made two tackles.

Ouzia was more impressed with Bowen than Paqueta, giving him a 7/10, echoing the sentiment that his goal made the difference.