Whilst I don’t want to focus too heavily on Adama Traoré’s failings in his brief cameo for West Ham against Manchester United, it’s hard not to.
After all, for the majority of a game that finished 1–1 at the London Stadium, the Hammers produced a performance full of teamwork, effort and resilience.
There haven’t been too many occasions this season when West Ham have truly looked like a team. But for large spells against Man U, that’s exactly what we saw — players working for one another, digging in, and putting in a monumental shift.
Which is precisely why the contrast was so obvious when Traoré replaced Crysencio Summerville in the 89th minute.
Make no mistake about it: Nuno Espírito Santo has spent the best part of three months explaining to the West Ham board why the muscle-bound Spaniard was crucial to his game plan.
Sadly, on this occasion, Traoré looked far more concerned about himself than self-sacrifice.
Traoré Didn’t Match the Standards Set by His Teammates
At one point he put his foot on the ball and delayed when a counter-attack demanded urgency. He also twice failed to properly back up his full-back, Ollie Scarles which is where the cross from the equaliser came from.
In short, Adama didn’t appear to be playing as part of the collective — and was as responsible as anyone else for turning three points into one. It should also be noted that Callum Wilson also chose not to square the ball when West Ham had an excellent opportunity to make it 2-0, so the loss of two points isn’t all on the signing from Fulham.
However, Nuno himself looked less than impressed with Traoré’s lack of contribution, which is entirely understandable. After all, the manager personally pushed for West Ham to sign the winger.
But if this lethargy — and tendency to play for himself rather than the team — continues, I suspect Traoré may find himself warming the bench for the remainder of the season.
Because in a relegation scrap, individual moments matter.
And so does buying into the cause.
I don’t want to scapegoat Traore but there’s no one else to scapegoat at the moment. lol.
I think his only limited assistance could be as an auxiliary striker to runaround for fifteen minutes when Taty and Pablo start waning
I wasn’t keen on his signing and still am not, think Lingard will offer more, though having said that feel you are looking for a scapegoat for a team failure to get an additional goal. Imho Calum Wilson’s refusal to square the ball to Magassa was much worse than anything Traore did or didn’t do, Magassa if the pass was good enough had a tap in.!Wilson gets a goals bonus which has seen him steal the ball off Bowen who could have scored a goal of the season earlier this season and now cost us two points in this game with a relatively easy pass.
It’s time to put ego aside for Nuno and DS and get the free agents in. Antonio is much more useful to this team than Wilson or Traore as is Lingard.
The fans will love both signings and we will benefit from the injection of hope COYI!!!
Quite agree, Traore is well off the pace, where bringing him on for the final few minutes backfired badly.
Him and Wilson both were selfish and wanted the glory to themselves, if Bowen or Summerville had been in that position I am sure they would have squared it to their team mate to tap in.
This is a very tight knit team and Wilson just does not have the same closing down and tracking back like Taty, he should never had been taken off
That is enough of that, because it was a superb performance and Man Utd new how lucky they were on Fergie time
Against Chelsea, for the 3rd goal he is lingering 4 yards from the edge of the box but does not bother to get goal side of the eventual midfield goal scorer. Watch replays of WHU defending and he is wandering around not sure where to position himself, never getting goal side but does that fake, I’m too late, stick out a foot tackle that is not a tackle. Was honestly not trying to spot him, but each time it stood out, especially when you see all the other players closing down, never losing shape,…
As soon as Summerville came off, Mbeumo came into the game and you can see Scarles gesturing to T, to ‘come back, put yourself there, goal side’. As a coach you’d need to watch more closely, to be certain but he is a weakness, a hole in an otherwise solid defence, so it really is detrimental to the team’s chances. especially when it is backs to the wall.
I really think, just as before, if insist on playing him, play 4 in midfield so Scarles is not outnumbered, still with 2 forwards upfront, one of them being Traore to harass their defenders with his speed and at the same time effectively keep him the hell away from the backline.