West Ham got a valuable point on the road after holding Southampton high in a 0-0 draw at St Mary’s.
Both teams lacked imagination and creativity throughout, and shots on goal were scarce throughout the 90 minutes. On the home side, Danny Ings had a goal ruled out for offside, while the Hammers’ best chance went to Tomas Soucek – who could only nod directly at Alex McCarthy despite not being scored at the far post.
The game also saw a sickening blow to the head for Che Adams, following an untimely blow from Craig Dawson, but luckily he didn’t appear to be taking lasting damage, as there was also a return to the game. ‘action for West Ham’s. main talisman, Michail Antonio.
Okay, that’s enough of that, let’s evaluate some players, okay?
Alex McCarthy (GK) – 7/10 – Was a virtual spectator for the first 85 minutes, then made a terrific Said Benrahma save. Excellent concentration.
Kyle Walker-Peters (RB) – 7/10 – Seems more and more confident with each performance. I wonder if Spurs regret letting him go? Reserve.
Jack Stephens (CB) – 6/10 – He had his hands full with Haller, but handled the Ivorian threat well as a whole. Likes a long raked pass.
Jan Bednarek (CB) – 7/10 – He was missing his usual partner Jannik Vestergaard but did not miss a beat. Reads the game well.
Ryan Bertrand (LB) – 6/10 – He held onto possession fairly well but didn’t give enough momentum to move forward.
Theo Walcott (RM) – 6/10 – Would have imagined his chances against Aaron Cresswell before kick-off, but drifted onto the pitch more often than not. Fabianski troubled with a long-range but fairly calm effort.
Oriol Romeu (CM) – 7/10 – A class act in the midfield who works so hard and puts his foot down when needed. Underrated outside of Southampton circles.
James Ward-Prowse (CM) – 6/10 – Wasn’t at his creative best and missed a golden opportunity (well, a 20-yard free kick). The press game was there.
Moussa Djenepo (LM) – 6/10 – A willful runner, but lacking the quality to break West Ham’s baseline. Reserved and captioned.
Danny Ings (ST) – 5/10 – Had an early goal ruled out for offside but wasn’t really in the races.
Che Adams (ST) – 5/10 – Surprised, he was able to continue after Craig Dawson nearly beheaded him. Subdued performance and replaced before time.
Shane Long (ST) – 6/10 – He’s come to stretch the game and get behind Fredericks and Dawson, but can see why he isn’t scoring a lot of goals.
Stuart Armstrong (LM) – N / A
Lukasz Fabianski (GK) – 6/10 – Largely untested as Southampton struggled to break through the West Ham low block. I did well to assemble the long-reach Walcott pendulum.
Ryan Fredericks (RB) – 6/10 – I should have done better with a header on target just before half-time, but I didn’t really put a foot on the defense.
Craig Dawson (CB) – 7/10 – Knocked out Che Adams’ block with a brutal kick to the back of the head. I couldn’t get past this, but was actually very solid in its early days.
Angelo Ogbonna (CB) – 7/10 – The reliable West Ham defense figure. Handled the threat of Ings and Adams comfortably.
Aaron Cresswell (LB) – 6/10 – Likely expected a tough night against Walcott, but actually found Walker-Peters a more disturbing proposition. Did well.
Declan Rice (CM) – 7/10 – Pick up as many loose balls and always seem to be in the right place to cut the crosses.
Tomas Soucek (CM) – 6/10 – Busy in midfield, but he’s not much of a threat unless West Ham stacks balls in the box. Must have scored with a free header at back batting.
Andriy Yarmolenko (RM) – 5/10 – A first Premier League start to the Ukrainian season and you could tell. Out of rhythm, reserved and subtitled.
Manuel Lanzini (AM) – 6/10 – Had trouble picking up the ball and dictating the tempo as he would have liked. Addicted to the hour in favor of Benrahma.
Pablo Fornals (LM) – 7/10 – Fairly anonymous but responsibly defended, helping West Ham maintain their form while making some interesting interceptions. Has an excellent engine.
Sébastien Haller (ST) – 6/10 – Did well in the air against Stephens, but was isolated for the most part. Not his fault, however, and put in a good shift. Substituted for Antonio with just over ten minutes to go.
Benrahma replaces Lanzini. #SOUWHU 0-0 (60) pic.twitter.com/SFUJqDrsUj
– West Ham United (@WestHam) December 29, 2020
Said Benrahma (AM) – 6/10 – David Moyes believes the Algerian needs to be smarter in his decision-making, but he just has that spark that puts you on the edge of your seat. West Ham improved when he came in, and he should have scored late.
Image ID: Jarrod Bowen (RM) – NOT/A
Michail Antonio (ST) – N / A
