The UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final stage began for West Ham with a 1-1 draw away from home in the first leg of their tie against Belgian outfit KAA Gent. The result leaves the Hammers in the driving seat – David Moyes’ side need to win at the London Stadium next week to progress to the semi-final – but their torrid performance in Thursday’s fixture will only have increased Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s confidence that his side could pull off a big upset. In truth, Moyes’ team were hugely fortunate to come away with the draw having conceded 20 shots, many of which came in good areas, whilst taking just four themselves. The backline were ragged and failed to cope with the movement of Gent’s prolific front two – Hugo Cuypers and Gift Orban – and the Hammers will need to hit a much higher level in the return leg in order to progress.
Alphonse Areola – 4
Although Areola had little to do in the match – thanks to a combination of Gent’s profligacy in front of goal and some solid last ditch defending – the French goalkeeper underwhelmed when commanding his penalty area and providing opportunities to retain possession with accurate distribution. His technical ability and composure have long been held up as strengths in comparison to Łukasz Fabiański but Areola has failed to deliver on this front of late. Whilst there were a lack of targets in the first half – wing-back Vladimír Coufal isn’t exactly the ideal target man – there weren’t such excuses for his wayward balls forward after Michail Antonio replaced Danny Ings for the final 30 minutes plus stoppage time.
Ben Johnson – 3
Johnson’s poor performance in this match has been slightly overcooked given that his first 65 minutes weren’t particularly notable and we should try to judge players on the full 90 minutes rather than their weakest ten or best five. There had been a miscommunication with Angelo Ogbonna and a couple of weak aerial challenges against Hugo Cuypers and Kamil Piątkowski in the first half but the full-back had otherwise done an okay job of filling in on the right side of the back three. He’d even had a couple of impressive moments on the ball, picking out neat passes through to Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini.
Things started to fall apart in the final quarter when he lost a simple aerial duel to Cuypers and failed to follow the striker on his surge into the box. Having been bailed out by some excellent covering from Nayef Aguerd on that occasion, one would’ve hoped that Johnson could refocus and regain his composure but the mistakes kept coming – almost multiplying as the game drifted completely out of control in the final stages. Minutes later, Orban jinked past him to find substitute Matisse Samoise who picked out a perfect cutback for Alessio Castro-Montes to wastefully fire wide. Then, there was a painfully cheap lost duel against Cuypers (again), followed by a failure to stop Orban from flying through the middle and almost scoring with a fantastic bicycle kick. And in the final minutes we drifted into catastrophic territory with an inconceivable decision to press Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe while leaving Sven Kums and Tarik Tissoudali free down Gent’s left flank before a mad failure to challenge or follow Tissoudali that nearly led to the easiest winner imaginable for the Moroccan forward.
This was a shambolic final 15 that evoked memories of a torrid performance in the 2020 Betway Cup against Bournemouth. Moyes subbed him off after 25 minutes that day and it wouldn’t be a surprise if playing opportunities were limited for the run-in after a similarly calamitous collapse.
Angelo Ogbonna – 5
Ogbonna was probably the only member of the trio at the back to come out with any credit from this match and that’s only really because the Italian managed to avoid the horrors his partners produced. An unimpressive performance with little to note.
Nayef Aguerd – 4
Aguerd put in a solid second half performance as he was repeatedly called into action to provide cover for Johnson’s mistakes on the opposite side but the Moroccan’s first half was woeful. In those first 45 minutes, Aguerd repeatedly gave the ball away and failed to win the vast majority of his aerial duels. There was a weak challenge on Jordan Torunarigha that nearly allowed the German to convert from a 14th minute corner, a total abdication of responsibility in the 26th minute when he didn’t bother to challenge Cuypers and let the striker coast right past him after winning the duel, a rerun of exactly that in the 37th, and a real missed opportunity when he didn’t get himself between the sticks to attack Flynn Downes’ 44th minute cross. Moyes would expect much more from a player that has already shown the level he is capable of this season.
Vladimír Coufal – 6
He may not have managed to pick out the final pass but Coufal was head and shoulders above most of his teammates for the first 50 minutes of Thursday’s match. The Czech’s energy in and out of possession in recent fixtures has really underlined the lack of intensity from some of his teammates – he stands out as a player that looks up for the fight to stay in the top flight and salvage something from the season with some silverware. Once again, his pressing to stop progression on his side was impressive and his sixth minute cutback would have been converted if anyone had made the burst to arrive on the penalty spot. Quick thinking to create the goal.
Flynn Downes – 4
Downes was harshly booked for a sliding challenge on Hong Hyun-seok with a meaty, but not definitively illegal and certainly not egregious, follow-through and the early yellow completely changed the way that he had to play the game. He struggled to exert control and found it hard to cover the gaps forced by the imbalance in midfield when Hong dropped off the frontline. His lack of positional security, aerial strength, and progressive contribution in possession make him a weak point in an outnumbered double-pivot and West Ham improved when Lucas Paquetá replaced him in the 74th minute.
Declan Rice – 6
While Rice did manage to produce some of his typical surges upfield, the England international also struggled with the imbalance in the middle and the amount of space he was being asked to cover between a passive backline and a tentatively engaged front three. He was easily bypassed for Gent’s equaliser and found himself lost somewhere between two hopeless roles in the opening stages when Vanhaezebrouck’s team were able to widen their backline and waltz down the outside of West Ham’s front three.
Emerson Palmieri – 2
There’s no excuse for a performance totally lacking effort and desire in any game but in the quarter-final of a European competition…? Emerson strolled around the pitch for most of Thursday’s game offering very little in attack and next to nothing in defence. He pressed without any intensity, gave the ball away repeatedly, and rarely bothered to make any attempt to race back and cover when Gent’s forwards wriggled through.
Manuel Lanzini – 4
Lanzini provided a few brief moments of quality in possession but most of the match passed him by. He was far too easily beaten from a defensive perspective – his “attempt” to cover for Johnson just before he was subbed was half-arsed at best – and his movement in the box to profit from some of the more promising attacks down the right was limited. A disappointing performance.
Jarrod Bowen – 7
Of the eleven that started, Bowen was easily West Ham’s best player in this match. Starting alongside Danny Ings before moving to the right flank when Saïd Benrahma was introduced, he showed bundles of energy out of possession, quality movement and hold-up play to aid progression, and a touch of final third inspiration when he created the situation that led to the opener before providing the assist himself.
Danny Ings – 5
Once again, Ings was barely in the game after being asked to lead the line in a team that doesn’t seem to want to, or know how to, keep the ball. The counter-attacking approach does little for him but he grew into the first half after a bad start and had just won a couple of free-kicks while combining well before his goal came in stoppage time. He disappeared again in the second half before being replaced by Antonio.
Michail Antonio – 5
Antonio instantly added the energy and physicality up front that the system needs to have any real success but his issues persisted as tiredness kicked in after 20 minutes and he missed his big chance when played through by Lucas Paquetá.
Saïd Benrahma – 5
Very mixed as usual. Provided a couple of neat moments with the ball immediately after coming on but also gave it away cheaply and lost duels on a number of occasions.
Lucas Paquetá – 8
Paquetá would usually fall just outside the required minutes to get a rating but he was so good when he came on that this cameo warranted comment. Not only did he match, and perhaps improve on, Downes’ security in aerial duels and defensive situations, but he clearly added the incisive quality that the team was lacking in midfield from the first minute. He played both Bowen and Antonio through on goal before surging through himself only to be denied by a fantastic last ditch tackle from Piątkowski.
Aaron Cresswell – N/A
