By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
There has to be a little bit of perspective applied to West Ham’s 3-0 win against Derby County because I thought the visitors were poor.
However, part of the reason Mads Hermansen had almost nothing to do was the excellence of Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos in front of him.
The numbers for West Ham’s two centre-backs were ridiculous. Between them, Kilman and Mavropanos won 18 of their 19 aerial duels as Derby failed to register a single shot on target and produced just 0.06 xG.
It was the sort of dominance which leaves Nuno Espírito Santo with an interesting problem following the arrival of Morato.
Mavropanos looks highly motivated
I’ve noticed a real change in Mavropanos since it became clear he wasn’t going to leave during the transfer window.
I thought he had a crappy pre-season and he remained error-prone against Wolves, having a hand in both of their goals despite also scoring himself.
But he scored a goal and looked highly motivated that day and against Derby he was dominant.
After the Wolves game I wrote that we’d finally seen the old Dinos returning, albeit during a performance which was as calamitous as it was magnificent.
Against Derby there was far less of the calamitous.
Mavropanos won all nine of his aerial duels and completed 59 of his 63 passes (94%), including five of six progressive passes.
| v Derby | Kilman | Mavropanos |
|---|---|---|
| Aerial duels | 9/10 | 9/9 |
| Passes | 57/63 | 59/63 |
| Pass accuracy | 90% | 94% |
| Progressive | 3/5 | 5/6 |
| Clearances | 5 | — |
Kilman becoming West Ham’s Steady Eddie
Kilman has been a complete Steady Eddie this season.
I’ve never thought we’ve seen anything approaching the level you’d expect from a £40m centre-back following a disastrous first campaign, but something looks different in the Championship.
So far, the division looks easy for him.
That’s quite a turnaround considering Kilman’s West Ham future looked bleak following relegation, when C&H was told he was likely to leave the club.
Against Derby he won nine of ten aerial duels and completed 57 of 63 passes (90%). But his progressive play throughout the season has impressed me just as much.
If West Ham are going to dominate possession in this division, as we should, we need at least one centre-back capable of stepping out and helping the midfield.
Kilman is increasingly doing exactly that.
Kilman hasn’t put a foot wrong this season
Where does this leave Morato?
The interesting question now is what happens with deadline-day signing Morato.
He’s clearly a Nuno Espírito Santo pick following their time together at Nottingham Forest, and the numbers we looked at before his arrival suggested he could provide genuine competition for Kilman.
In fact, at the time I assumed the left-footed Brazilian would probably be competing directly with Kilman for the left-sided centre-back position.
That assumption suddenly doesn’t look quite so straightforward.
Kilman deserves to keep the shirt and, on this evidence, breaking up his partnership with Mavropanos would be an extremely foolish idea.
I would rank our CB’s as 1. Kilman 2. Mavropanos 3. Golembeckis 4. Morato.
I believe Golembeckis has the potential to be our no 2 before the season is out, but a lot will depend on results and how willing Nuno will be to change our current pairing unless bad form dictates. I don’t see Morato as being more than backup like Igor was and a lot of Forest fans were literally begging us to sign him.
why would the manager need to explain every decision.
no one knows the circumstances of each player.
he may of had a niggle, looked at the fixtures and trying to keep players fresh, who knows.
I watched Kilman, Scarles get away with murder Saturday with some shocking passing which against a better team would have been punished.
Mav was lucky no VAR otherwise he would have got a handball pen against him.
Don’t think it’s as Rosey at the back as you see it….
It’s a long season Morato and the rest of the squad will get their chance
Nuno was almost insistent that Morato (loan) came in (sulking due to not getting Nelson).
Even though there was Golambeckis/Mayer’s/Veltman/Alvarez/Magassa/Mavro/Kilman to cover back line.
Would have been far better to bring in Largie Ramazani (gone to Burnley on loan) who could cover across front line.
As he’s a Belgium shame Koppen never stepped.
He was discussed but Nuno decided wasn’t needed.
Maybe never used on left wing but as a striker/right winger he would have been excellent asset.
Far more beneficial than adding extra centre back.
Totally agree, Gonzo. Breaking up that partnership, considering the form they are in, would be plain stupid.
The same goes for Engels and Mukasa. They are developing a great partnership. Kilman, Mavropanos, Engels, Mukasa, give us a strong spine to the team.