West Ham star was their best signing since Bowen, now he’s “shambolic”

Sunday afternoon was just another reminder that this is going to be a long and brutal season for West Ham United.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have been in pretty reasonable form over the last couple of months, losing just two of their previous seven games.

However, the defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend has left the East Londoners in the relegation zone, three points adrift of Leeds United in 17th.

It wasn’t a horror show against the Villans, but there were a few players who let the fans down, including someone who, at one point, looked like he could be West Ham’s best signing since Jarrod Bowen.

West Ham's better performers against Villa

Starting with the positive, then, who played well for West Ham on Sunday afternoon?

Chalkboard

Well, despite the result, it was another brilliant showing from Mateus Fernandes, who not only opened the scoring in the first minute but was a constant threat in the middle of the park.

For example, in his 90 minutes of action, the Portuguese dynamo took 68 touches, recovered the ball 11 times, made one interception and completed 48 passes, 25 of which were in Villa’s half.

Alongside him in the middle of the park, it was also another promising display from Freddie Potts.

The academy ace was secure in possession, constantly winning the ball back, and completed 96% of his 45 attempted passes.

Minutes

88′

Assists

1

Big Chances Created

1

Key Passes

1

Touches

59

Fouls Won

2

Interceptions

1

Clearances

1

Recoveries

1

Ground Duels (Won)

7 (5)

Aerial Duels (Won)

2 (2)

Moreover, it was his scuffed attempt that led to Bowen’s goal.

The former Hull City star was another of the host’s better players on the day, as in addition to his goal, he completed two dribbles, played a key pass and generally looked a threat.

However, while these three starters put in a good shift against the Villans, there were more than a few who underwhelmed, including one player who looked like an incredible signing not that long ago.

The West Ham star who looked like the best signing since Bowen

While there were a few poor performances on Sunday, the most disappointing, and potentially most worrying, came from El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The reason is that, not that long ago, the former Slavia Prague star was looking like one of West Ham’s best signings in a very long time.

During the first couple of months of the season, his explosive and marauding runs up the pitch were one of the few genuinely exciting aspects about the Hammers.

Moreover, while it wouldn’t always come off, the Senegalese international would often fire off a wicked cross at the end of his journeys up the pitch.

It was this ability to get the ball into dangerous areas that saw him chalk up three assists in the first five league games of the season.

What was so impressive was that even if he didn’t get the assist, his crosses were still leading to goals, as was the case away to Everton in Nuno’s first game in charge.

At that point, it looked like the Hammers had a star in the making on their hands, so much so that Sky Sports’ Joe Thomlinson claimed he was “one of the finds of the season.”

Unfortunately, since then, the attacking output has all but dried up, with no more assists or goals added to his tally. In fact, according to Understat, he’s actually overperforming his expected assists figure by 2.32.

This lack of attacking output wouldn’t be such a problem if he were a reliable defender, but he’s not, and over the last couple of months, he’s been caught out on more than one occasion.

For example, on commentary for 5 Live, Chris Sutton described the 20-year-old’s defending for Jacob Murphy’s goal for Newcastle United as “pretty shambolic.”

The former Slaiva star was poor on Sunday as well, winning just 50% of his tackles, losing the ball nine times, losing five of eight ground duels and committing two fouls.

Ultimately, there is still time for Diouf to come good; he has the talent, but as things stand, he is looking like a growing problem for West Ham.

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