9/10 Paqueta shines, 3/10 Kehrer needs to be dropped – West Ham United player ratings v Freiburg
West Ham continued their 100% winning start in the Europa League with a strong performance in their 2-1 victory against Freiburg on Thursday 5 October.
The Hammers fell under a bit of pressure shortly after half-time when the German outfit equalised despite the best efforts of Lukasz Fabianski, but were able to solidify once more and balance out any worries they may have had after Nayef Aguerd’s goal.
Lucas Paqueta in particular shone again, with his creativity proving crucial, as well as his thumping header opening the scoring as David Moyes will have been impressed by his star man here.
West Ham Zone has rated the players out of 10 below…
Lukasz Fabianski – 7
Made two outstanding stops before the goal as the third ultimately found its way past him, but it was no fault of his own as his defenders failed to clear their lines and allowed three shots to face the goalkeeper.
Other than the goal his performance was assured and confident, proving why he was the number one at the London Stadium as recently as last season, and putting a case forward to challenge current first-choice stopper Alphonse Areola who has also performed brilliantly this season.
Vladimir Coufal – 6/10
Unlike his teammate on the opposite side, Coufal managed to contain the right-hand side of the pitch. His performance was steady and nothing spectacular, as he didn’t offer much going forward, but his one key pass and all-round confidence proved to shine yet again.
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6/10
A steady and solid performance for the defender, if nothing spectacular he won the majority of his duels and coped comfortably with the German side’s attacking options. The performance was not up to his recent standard set, but by no means was it a poor display.
Nayef Aguerd – 7/10
A fantastic thumping header to put his side back in front eased any pressure he may have been facing as a result of his recent performances and the Hammers’ defensive struggles in this game.
His passing was not up to scratch, completing just 75% of his attempted passes, although the stats are skewed as a result of 17 of these passes being long balls to wide areas as he looked to spring his side onto counter-attacks, making six of the 17 attempted. [Sofascore]
Thilo Kehrer – 3/10
Struggled in an unfamiliar position and did not long at home on the left. Conceded two fouls and gave the ball away 12 times as he failed to keep a handle on the left-hand side [Sofascore]. His substitution for the more natural Emerson was a much-needed change while the Hammers were under pressure.
Edson Alvarez – 5/10
Probably a bit of a harsh rating, but such is the level and standard he has set for himself with his performances since arriving at the London Stadium. He broke up play, kept the ball moving and provided a base to build attacks from, but committed three fouls and was booked for some sloppy challenges.
James Ward-Prowse – 7/10
Another good performance from the midfielder before he was subbed off after 89 minutes. Another assist from a corner typified his game and has improved his record yet again for the Hammers.
An effective response to the disappointment of being left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming international break as he got his head down and continued to perform how he has since arriving in East London.
Pablo Fornals – 5/10
He was trusted with the opportunity to prove he can still provide some good work for this team but failed to really make an impression on the game before being brought off after 71 minutes.
Lost possession ten times and won just two of the six duels he contested [Sofascore], but was typically comfortable in possession and able to keep things ticking while not doing anything spectacular.
Mohammed Kudus – 6/10
Another of the West Ham stars who failed to quite live up to his high standard. He had been knocking on the door of possible first-team involvement but his display today would have done nothing to persuade his boss.
It was by no means a poor display for the summer arrival as he looked to create opportunities and get into some good positions, winning seven of his twelve duels both on and off the ball.
Lucas Paqueta – 9/10
The standout star of this West Ham performance. His goal opened the scoring for the Hammers and he arguably should have made it two before his second strike was unfortunately and controversially ruled out for offside.
He proved his worth to this West Ham side once again with an impressive European display and created a chance for Jarrod Bowen late on that the Englishman failed to take. David Moyes will be especially happy with his display, causing a constant goal threat throughout.
Jarrod Bowen – 6/10
This was a performance below his usual standard, but by no means was it poor. He found himself isolated playing as the lone striker in the first half, but after he was shifted back to his normal position wide on the right he became much more of a threat.
Four dribbles completed from five attempts, four shots with one on target, one wide and two blocked both illustrated his confidence of late and on another goal he would have scored.
Substitutes
Emerson Palmieri – 7/10
Thomas Soucek – 6/10
Said Benrahma – 5/10
Danny Ings – N/A
Divin Mubama – N/A
