West Ham travelled away to Denmark for the second leg of their tie with Viborg FF in the Europa Conference League Play-Offs on Thursday night and David Moyes’ team put in their most promising performance of the season so far, coming away 3-0 winners and qualifying thanks to a 6-1 scoreline on aggregate.
Moyes changed the system from the 4231, or 433, we’ve seen so far this season to a 3412 where his side showed a much greater understanding of how to progress the ball. There were some big positives to take away from this performance and the form of some of the individuals involved will have given Moyes much to ponder ahead of this weekend’s clash with Aston Villa.
Alphonse Areola – 6
Areola was almost entirely untroubled but for one impressive reaction save he had to make to deny Justin Lonwijk after parrying Jay-Roy Grot’s shot straight back into danger.
Ben Johnson – 8
Johnson’s hugely impressive start to the season continued here as he moved to a new role at right wing-back. He displayed his newfound penchant for switch–passing, particularly useful in a wing-back system where the player on the opposite flank can get very advanced, and combined a positive defensive display with genuine vibrancy in attack. It’s often been said that Johnson lacks quality in the final third but his body-feints to free crossing space were excellent in this match, he completed all five of his dribble attempts, and he could easily have come away with an assist after whipping a number of good crosses into the box.
Thilo Kehrer – 7
It’s immediately clear that Kehrer will thrive in a back three system where there is adequate cover for his aggressive defensive style. The German was completely comfortable throughout this match in his battle with Lonwijk and showed his quality on the ball with a number of zipped passes out to the opposite flank that allowed the team to generate speed in attack.
Angelo Ogbonna – 6
Ogbonna continued to step-up his recovery in this match where he was brilliant in the first half before the lack of sharpness began to have an effect. He battled well with the physical presence of Grot and showed a calmness and quality in defence that we’ve been missing since his injury late last year. He struggled against Alassana Jatta in the final half an hour but this isn’t much of a surprise for a player that has missed so much football.
Aaron Cresswell – 6
There are major positives and negatives that come with playing Cresswell on the left of a back three and we got to see both on Thursday. He played a vital role in progressing the ball, recording 96% success from a mammoth 36 forward passes, and showed his ability to push out of defence and contribute in attack. But he only managed to win two of his six defensive duels and Ibrahim Said will have felt that he had complete control of this battle until he was moved to the opposite flank in the second half.
Pablo Fornals – 9
Moyes has deployed Fornals at left wing-back on a number of occasions now with wildly varying results. The Spaniard was exceptional from this position against Wolves last season but struggled in the games against Eintracht Frankfurt where he faced more direct pressure from his opposite number. Playing against opposition that utilised a back four, he was outstanding in this slot on Thursday. Fornals’ first half performance in this match was by far the best level we’ve seen from any player so far this season as he continually demanded possession of the ball and played constant passes between the lines to teammates in dangerous areas. It’s clear that he is excellent when given licence to dribble inside from the left and play through the lines off his right foot and he was free to do this throughout Thursday’s match.
Tomáš Souček – 7
After somehow not managing to score from a number of presentable opportunities in the first four games of the season, Souček finally managed to return in this game. His goal and assist were well deserved as he contributed positively around the box and timed a number of pressures brilliantly to win high turnovers. The one concern that has carried throughout Souček’s performance so far this season is his defensive work where, at times, he has looked a little slow to react when protecting the box. That continued here and the Czech will need to improve on this if he is to play a key role again this season with new central midfielders expected to arrive in the coming days.
Manuel Lanzini – 8
It has been a torrid opening to the season for Lanzini but Thursday’s performance was much improved. Allowed to operate from a little deeper in the side, and with adequate cover behind him thanks to the back three, Lanzini was able to focus more on dictating play and assisting with progression to the final third. You still feel that he has a much higher level to hit in attacking areas but this was an all-round positive midfield display with six interceptions and 92% pass accuracy while playing forwards 38% of the time.
Saïd Benrahma – 8
Allowed to float between the lines as the link between the front-two and the midfield, Benrahma performed brilliantly in this match. He showed a fantastic understanding of how to generate space and was constantly making darts out of the middle to create room for others or receive the ball on the flank himself. Took his goal wonderfully.
Gianluca Scamacca – 8
This was easily the best performance we’ve seen so far from Scamacca as the Italian scored with a smart finish at the near post and created another with his perfectly directed flick-on for Cornet to play Benrahma through. Having held the ball up well throughout and made a key contribution for two goals, he will surely have put himself in contention for a start in the Premier League.
Maxwel Cornet – 6
Cornet provided an excellent outlet throughout the match playing off the shoulder and darting in behind to unsettle the Viborg defence. He should’ve scored in the second half but inexplicably managed to fire over with the goal gaping after Benrahma’s cutback. Moyes will be keen to see the number of offsides decrease with Cornet often making his runs a second too early and will want to see the overall level of efficiency improve with a few too many passes going astray.
Viborg FF: Pedersen (6), Gaaei (6), Burgy (8), Zaletel (7), Sørensen (7), Bonde (5), Grønning (6), Leemans (6), Said (6), Grot (8), Lonwijk (5).
