The ratings tell a story when a defender gets the man of the match.
Fabian Balbuena scored 6.73 in the Claret and Hugh player ratings which on a normal week would be pretty average but yesterday elevated him to the unlikely West Ham man of the match.
Luca Fabianski was not far behind on 6.69 followed by Felipe Anderson with 6.64 who scored the equaliser.
Robert Snodgrass received an average score of 6.57 followed by Marko Arnautovic on 6.27, the only other West Ham player to score six or over was Issa Diop creeping in with a score of 6.08.
Declan Rice was best of the fives with a 5.95 followed by Pablo Zabaleta on 5.93 and Aaron Cresswell on 5.92.
Javier Hernandez led the batch of players with which hundreds of Claret and Hugh readers were less impressed collecting an average score of 5.41,
Grady Diangana will be disappointed with his 5.28 after he was replaced at halftime. Michail Antonio scored low again with 5.14 just above Ryan Fredericks on a terrible 4.94 after he replaced Zaba on 75 minutes.
Fabianski on 6.69? Ok I can understand those who are upset that a very weak goal was conceded but I expect he was unsighted for that one, but honestly did no one see the world class save he made when he tipped a dead cert for a goal over the bar?
West Ham’s ‘current’ major weakness is the absence of an ‘experienced’ central defender.
Balbuena + Diop ‘may’ be ok, but they lack the sufficient positional awareness that an experinced defender would have.
To that end, someone like Cahill would be an excellent short-term benefit to the younger new recruits.
Recent goals conceded, although few, have been via the same route due to unnecessary flamboyance near the touchline and then a non-existent or hapless central defence.
It’s impossible not to concede goals no matter who you are. In our last 8 league games we’ve only conceded more than one goal once. Not too shabby. However, we cannot dismantle and rebuild our defence every time we do. Unless we give these two a chance to work on their partnership they won’t ever improve. I think we have to show a little patience here. Although, I know that’s not a quality some of our fans are well known for.