It might not have been a win, but Monday night’s draw against Everton was about as good a start to Nuno Espírito Santo’s West Ham United tenure as anyone really expected.
The Hammers fought back from one-nil down and looked the more likely winner for large parts of the second half, with Jarrod Bowen, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville looking seriously impressive.
However, there were also several players who flattered to deceive, and might be in for a fight to keep their place under the new boss.
In fact, there was one player in particular who should be removed from the team and ultimately moved on as soon as possible by Nuno.
West Ham's underperformers
One of the starters who could have played himself out of the starting lineup on Monday night was defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
The former Arsenal ace looked unsure of himself for much of the encounter, did poorly for Michel Kean’s opener and maintained a passing accuracy of just 82%.
Likewise, while he wasn’t to blame for the goal, and just generally wasn’t as bad as the Greek ace, Kyle Walker-Peters didn’t exactly impress against the Toffees.
Minutes
95′
Expected Goals
0.00
Expected Assists
0.03
Clearances
3
Ground Duels (Won)
6 (3)
Aerial Duels (Won)
4 (2)
Lost Possession
11
Fouls
3
Crosses (Accurate)
1 (0)
Long Balls (Accurate)
6 (1)
Shots on Target
0
The former Southampton star won just 50% of his aerial and ground duels, lost the ball 11 times, completed just 80% of his passes, didn’t deliver a single accurate cross, misplaced five of six long balls and committed three fouls.
Moreover, the Englishman’s performance was made all the more uninspiring by the fact that Diouf was a monster on the opposite flank and could have had a hat-trick of assists by the end of the game.
Finally, while there were a couple of moments in which he showed his undeniable class, it was an overall frustrating showing from summer signing Mateus Fernandes.
The Portuguese ace amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of just 0.12, failed to play a single key pass, and didn’t have a shot on target or complete a dribble, generally looking rather average at best.
However, while all three of these players underwhelmed on the night, there was one starter who was even worse, a starter who has to be removed from the team by Nuno going forward.
The West Ham star Nuno has to drop
Given the poor performers already mentioned, it will probably come as no surprise that the starter in question was Niclas Füllkrug.
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The German international is a striker with a record that suggests he should be thriving in the Premier League.
After all, before he moved to the London Stadium, the “old-fashioned” striker, as dubbed by Ally McCoist, spent a season with German giants Borussia Dortmund in which he scored 15 goals and provided ten assists in 43 games.
Moreover, although he hasn’t played a game since June, the 32-year-old has won 24 senior caps for Germany, in which he has scored 14 goals and provided two assists.
Unfortunately, this eye for goal has not been apparent in England, as last season he managed only three goals and two assists in 20 games for the Irons, and this season he has yet to produce any goal involvement in six appearances.
It was another disappointing display on Monday, as the Hannover-born poacher looked miles off the pace on and off the ball, failed to make the right runs in behind and wasn’t even holding up the ball well.
On top of that, he seemed to lose the ball more regularly than you’d have expected, and while this all sounds harsh, his statistics more than justify this appraisal.
Minutes
89′
Expected Goals
0.24
Expected Assists
0.05
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots on Target
1
Touches
37
Passing Accuracy
15/23 (65%)
Ground Duels (Won)
2 (1)
Aerial Duels (Won)
14 (4)
Lost Possession
9
Fouls
1
Offsides
1
In 89 minutes of inaction, the German international produced a combined expected goal and assist figure of 0.29, had just one shot on target, took 37 touches – eight fewer than Alphonse Aréola – completed just 65% of his passes, lost 11 of 16 duels, lost the ball nine times and was offside once.
Ultimately, it really was a terrible showing from Füllkrug, and while Nuno isn’t blessed with striker options at the moment, he should axe the German, look to move him on in the winter, and start Callum Wilson up top for now.