West Ham got their Europa Conference League campaign off to a good start with a 3-1 win over Danish outfit Viborg FF on Thursday night. With David Moyes making seven changes to the team that played against Nottingham Forest, the manager will surely be pleased with the result and the margin of victory to take into the second leg.
But that will be all that he’s pleased about; the less said about the team performance the better. Although Viborg clearly lacked quality in both boxes, Jacob Friis’ side were dominant in the middle of the park and will feel that their positive play, particularly in the first half, may have deserved more reward.
Alphonse Areola – 7
Making his first start of the season, Areola made a couple of key saves in the second half from Jay-Roy Grot and Nils Mortimer Moreno. He was particularly quick off his line to smother Grot’s shot when the striker found himself clean through after showing Angelo Ogbonna a clean pair of heels. Areola’s longer distribution was the only fault in this performance with the Frenchman recording several inaccurate long-kicks that gave the forwards no hope of securing possession.
Harrison Ashby – 7
On just his fifth competitive start, academy graduate Ashby impressed again at right-back. There were clearly some nerves in the first half where the Scot continually passed up opportunities to play forwards in favour of safer passes but he cut that out at half-time and offered a much improved second half showing. Relatively untroubled defensively throughout, Ashby can be pleased with his individual performance and will hope to get the opportunity to play in the return leg next Thursday.
Ben Johnson – 8
Still playing out of position at centre-back thanks to injuries and fitness concerns with all of the other options in the position, Johnson performed well again. Where he had played as more of a covering option on the left of the back two with Kurt Zouma against Forest, Johnson had to take up a more proactive role on the right while partnered with Angelo Ogbonna this time. He won 75% of his defensive duels and showed an impressive range of passes with six accurate progressive passes and six accurate passes to the final third recorded in the match.
Angelo Ogbonna – 5
Ogbonna played 67 minutes as he finally returned from the knee injury that had kept him out since the win over Liverpool in November last season. The Italian struggled with Grot when the striker made quick bursts (in pretty much any direction) and his lack of match sharpness was noticeable. But his competency in possession hasn’t gone missing at all with 95% accuracy when passing and the return leg should offer another chance for Ogbonna to step things up as he looks to recover to full fitness again.
Vladimír Coufal – 8
Switched to left-back thanks to West Ham’s inability to get a deal over the line for a Masuaku replacement, Coufal did an excellent job on the wrong side. He was constantly involved as a positive attacking force and, where his crossing from the right had been missing, he was back to form here with 100% accuracy from his four cross attempts. The Czech defender played a mammoth 23 progressive passes with 74% accuracy alongside eight accurate passes to the final third and two key passes. Although it would have been nice to have someone more capable of overlapping Cornet, this was about as good a performance as you could hope for from a right-back playing on the wrong side.
Conor Coventry – 5
It’s hard not to be disappointed when reviewing this Conor Coventry performance. The young Irish midfielder has spoken repeatedly of his desire to make the grade at West Ham but he won’t get many more opportunities if this is his maximum level. Far too casual off the ball and lacking energy with it, this was a poor performance at the heart of the West Ham midfield. He won just 25% of his duels and although he recorded 98% accuracy with his passes, just 22% of them travelled forwards.
Tomáš Souček – 5
Souček’s bad start to the season continued here with a hugely underwhelming performance in the kind of game you’d expect him to stamp some authority on. 20% success on duels, a grand total of three forward passes, two of which were accurate, and just one touch in the penalty area – the Czech midfielder performed well below the level you’d expect. There were some good moments defensively that save his rating (four interceptions and three clearances) but Moyes will demand much more of a player that was central to everything good about West Ham early last season and before.
Jarrod Bowen – 8
Although he wasn’t hugely involved in general play, as per usual, Bowen performed to a much higher level on Thursday than that which we saw in the first two matches. His goal was brilliantly taken as he arrowed the ball into the bottom corner from distance and his performance was otherwise positive with 100% passing accuracy and 60% success from five dribble attempts. Much improved.
Manuel Lanzini – 4
Where have you taken Manu and what have you done with him? Hooked at half-time, this was a third turgid performance so far this season from Lanzini. He committed to just two duels in the first half, winning one of them and played forwards three times while failing to connect his only progressive pass attempt. This was a performance that lacked energy, enthusiasm, and quality, and was miles off the level expected at West Ham.
Maxwel Cornet – 6
A first start for Cornet after signing from Burnley for £18.63m and the Ivorian can be pretty pleased with his first proper outing in a West Ham shirt. His cross for Scamacca’s opener was delightful after he beat Nicolas Bürgy twice and his runs in behind were a constant threat. Moyes will be keen to improve on the defensive effort we saw in the second half where Christian Sørensen continually got the better of Cornet and outmatched the winger for desire to produce Viborg’s goal but the manager will be otherwise pleased.
Gianluca Scamacca – 5
A goal on his full debut and a 5/10!? Yep. Although Scamacca took his goal brilliantly with some lovely movement in the box to deceive Žan Zaletel, the Italian was disappointing otherwise. We saw those trademark darts into deeper positions to lay the ball off to the wingers but most of his passes in these instances were inaccurate. 43% success on all actions is a bad return and 27% success on duels looks even worse. It’s always a good sign if a striker can score when they’re not playing well but Scamacca likely won’t have done enough to earn himself a starting spot against Brighton.
Pablo Fornals – 7
On at half-time to replace the lethargic Lanzini, Fornals energised the midfield and contributed the kind of quality that had been sorely lacking in the first 45 minutes. The Spaniard recorded 75% success on duels and made eight ball recoveries – numbers that are better than most of his teammates that played the whole match. His overeagerness to press led to the Viborg goal though and cost him an 8/10.
Saïd Benrahma – 7
All of the substitutes came on and really improved the performance and Benrahma, although a little less effective all-round than he was against Forest, provided the kind of spark needed in attack with his sensational dribble and cut-back to assist Antonio for the third goal. Though I’m sure there would’ve been a few choice words in Kevin Nolan’s ear when he gave the ball away on the halfway line with the defence exposed.
Michail Antonio – 8
Came on, started winning the battle with the Viborg centre-backs and scored. Although he wasn’t involved much, where he did become active – it was nearly always good. He looked sharp against Forest and had a real bite about him last night which is unsurprising now that there’s real pressure on him for the starting spot.
Thilo Kehrer – 8
If he performs like this every week, Thilo Kehrer could be the bargain buy of the summer! Just one day after signing from PSG, the German replaced Ogbonna for the final stretch of the match and contributed a couple of excellent zipped passes out to Benrahma, one of which led to the third goal. It’s great to see a centre-back who is willing to cut out the safe option and play the ball directly into the winger and, given that extra time to get moving at speed before the pressure arrives, Benrahma will be excited at the prospect of playing with Kehrer in the future.
Flynn Downes – N/A
Viborg FF: Pedersen (7), Anyembe (7), Bürgy (6), Zalatel (8), Sørensen (6), Bonde Jensen (7), Grønning (8), Leemans (6), Žambůrek (5), Grot (8), Lonwijk (7); Gaaei (6), Søndergaard (7), Mortimer Moreno (7).
