Thilo Kehrer’s Hammers journey began on a promising note. He was promptly integrated into the team by manager David Moyes and showed his quality as a central defender. The German international had joined the club in an £11 million transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, raising hopes of a successful career at The London Stadium.
However, an unsuccessful stint at right-back exposed some weaknesses in Kehrer’s game, leading to his exclusion from the starting line-up, and he never truly recovered from that setback. He made a brief return towards the end of the previous season and seemed to regain his form, but he couldn’t fully regain David Moyes’ trust.
Hammers defender Thilo Kehrer needs more game-time.
This season, The Hammers defender has once again found himself on the fringes of the team, only appearing sporadically in less critical matches. It’s understandable that he must be growing increasingly frustrated.
While I anticipate he might start in the Europa League game against Olympiacos, I expect him to be benched for most of the Premier League fixtures. There’s a possibility he could step in for the suspended Emerson at left-back against Everton, but I don’t foresee him receiving significant playing time.
There were rumours over the summer suggesting that Kehrer was keen on returning to his native Germany in search of regular first-team action. It’s a stance that I anticipate might resurface during the January transfer window if he struggles to break into Moyes’ starting eleven.
I agree Buddy and I see this as a consequence of Moyes unwillingness to use his squad. He always flogs ’em till they drop, ignoring the others until he throws them in the deep end. This also applies to youngsters. Kehrer was thrown in at r/b, had a few mistakes, then really settled and played well. Coufal form improved then and Kehrer was just dropped.
It’s a real shame that it hasn’t worked out, because we need leaner, more athletic centre backs (like Aguerd) to add more vitality to our back line.