Gonzo hands out the marks
Fabianski:9 Good save from Amartey who was allowed to stroll through midfield. Bailed Dawson out with an amazing penalty save.
Kehrer:5 Outclassed by Barnes. Doesn’t seem to understand full back starting positions. Targeted from the beginning. Some good moments as West Ham grew into the game after 30 mins.
Dawson:6 Clumsy tackle to deny Daka a certain goal which VAR correctly decided should be a penalty.
Zouma: Injured during the warm-up but started the game. Lasted 12 mins before being substituted.
Cresswell:6 Terrible marking for the opening goal from Maddison but he wasn’t the only one at fault. Would have been relieved when the Leicester attacker was withdrawn with an injury. Like the team as a while he got better the longer the game went on.
Fabianski – great penalty save
Rice:8 Gave 100% and was clearly focused on this game rather than the World Cup. Tried so hard to drive the team forward.
Soucek:7 Displayed his finishing qualities but unfortunately the goal was ruled offside. Won his fair share or tackles as usual and tried to get forward more than in previous games.
Bowen:6 Looked better than previous games without quite hitting top form.
Paqueta:6 Found it hard to find space or get on the ball initially. He works hard and makes tackles but often looks hesitant and lacking in confidence. Grew into the game and had a number of chances including one which hit the bar.
Benrahma:8 Forced Ward into a good reaction save. Good skills to help set up a rare first half attack from the Hammers. In good form and enjoying his football
Scamacca:4 Constantly wandering deep to try and get involved. Minimal service to him in striking positions. Should be more of a threat from corners. Ultimately he didn’t test the goalkeeper.
Aguerd:5 Not massively troubled as Leicester lacked punch once Maddison had departed. Clearly reads the game very well, outpaced by Barnes for Leicester’s second.
Fornals:3 Replaced Soucek in the 74th min. Almost immediately gave the ball away when Kehrer had pushed forward which resulted in a Barnes goal.
Paqueta, Kehrer, Scamacca ? Max of 5 each. Paqueta makes one or two good passes & nothing else, Kehrer is simply a bad defender & Scamacca is a fish out of water trying to do things that he is incapable of doing. That’s in the region of £90 million wasted. It may take time for these players to adjust to the Premier League, but by then they’ll be playing in the Championship !
Too generous all around, really. Only Fab, Dec, and Benny deserve decent marks. Paqueta shows some effort, but made poor passes and gave the ball away repeatedly. Kehrer doesn’t know where to be. Cressy has no pace and can’t defend. Scamacca shows nothing. Bowen seems to have lost a step. He fails to get on the end of crosses and does nothing when he’s in possession. Soucek is largely invisible. He should never shoot from any distance. We seldom manage to string together even a few passes, and when we do, the ball either gets stuck in someone’s feet or it ends with a poor shot. I do agree that not having to watch will be a blessing.
I may be the only one, but just cannot buy into the Benrahma love here.
He has produced a few moments of skills but consistently lacks the end product.
Interesting that the 2nd goal came directly through where Soucek would have been….