West Ham United played host to Ipswich Town in the Premier League at the London Stadium this afternoon.
Before the game kicked off, we all knew that this was a must-win for West Ham, and we ended up earning a vital three points.
Hammers News have compiled our West Ham player ratings for the game.
Julen Lopetegui was under immense pressure before the game, and he had apparently assured the board that he will turn things around.
The Spaniard decided not to make any changes from the 1-1 draw with Brentford last weekend, and many Hammers fans were shocked.
However, Lopetegui got the result he needed in the end, so we can’t complain.
The result was all that mattered today really, but there were some encouraging displays from the boys as well, which was a bonus.
How did the players shape up from an individual performance perspective though?
West Ham player ratings vs Ipswich Town
It had all the makings of a tough afternoon at the London Stadium on Saturday. Ipswich are a good side who have looked very decent so far this season.
However, the goals either side of the half-time break proved to be too much for the visitors in the end.
Here’s how Hammers News rated the players’ performances at the London Stadium this afternoon…
Alphonse Areola 5.5
The Frenchman should have done a lot better with the goal he conceded in the sixth minute. The shot was a decent one from Liam Delap, but it should have been a fairly comfortable save for Areola to make. His distribution was really poor as well. In fairness to the 31-year-old, he did pull out a superb save from a Delap header in the second-half, and that boosted his score significantly.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 6.5
The 26-year-old definitely was not at his best against Ipswich. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t do anything wrong, but I really feel like he needs to do more for us inside the final third, and he must use his pace to greater effect on the overlap.
Jean-Clair Todibo 7.5
The 24-year-old centre-back was good today, but he definitely doesn’t look 100 per cent fit to me. There is undoubtedly more to come from Todibo, but he must be more switched on when going in for 50/50s. He’s beaten far too regularly in my opinion. That said, he did show some really positive signs when he stepped out of defence with the ball at his feet with real impetus.
Max Kilman 7
The £40 million summer signing was his usual composed self in the heart of the West Ham defence against the Tractor Boys. Kilman has been our best player so far this season, and he was very solid once again today.
Emerson Palmieri 6.5
Not his best performance today, but credit where it’s due, he did whip in a great ball in the lead up to our second goal today. Emerson is our best left-back by a country mile, so he will start pretty much every game that he’s available for. Still, I expect a lot more from the Italian
Guido Rodriguez 7
The Argentinian kept the tempo of the game ticking for us in the middle of the park this afternoon. He was very tidy in possession, and looked much better than he has done recently in my opinion. Rodriguez still needs to get fitter and adjust to the intensity of Premier League football, but I thought he showed big improvements today.
Tomas Soucek 7
The Czech Republic international was actually very solid for the Hammers today. The 29-year-old didn’t let us down and was his usual powerful self in the air in both boxes. It has been hugely surprising to me how important Soucek has proven to be under Lopetegui.
Lucas Paqueta 3
The Brazilian’s defending in the lead up to the Ipswich Town equaliser was truly awful. He was weak in the challenge with Delap, and should have done a lot better. There’s clearly something not quite right with Paqueta at the moment. The 27-year-old was poor all round today actually. He was wasteful in possession and and needs to be dropped by Lopetegui urgently. Even his tap in goal was not enough to boost his score in my eyes.
Mohammed Kudus 7
It’s so obvious to see that the Ghanaian is not at his best when playing out wide on the left wing. If we can all see it, why on earth can’t Lopetegui? Kudus has repeatedly insisted that he is at his best when playing in the number 10 role, and Lopetegui needs to start listening to him. That said, he does need to do more in my opinion. He had a few good opportunities to drive at Ben Johnson, but his touch let him down. He missed an absolute sitter inside the first half as well, when he headed wide from inside six yards. Kudus did atone for all of that with his brilliant leap before heading home to put us 2-1 up before the half-time break. He improved greatly in the second-half.
Jarrod Bowen 9
Provided the assist for Antonio inside the first minute today, and worked very hard down the right hand side. The 27-year-old proved his class with a wonderfully taken goal early on in the second-half to put us 3-1 up, and then made the assist for the Paqueta goal. The skipper is a vitally important player, and we need to see more from him from this point onwards. A goal and two assists during a win is always worth a 9/10 minimum as far as I’m concerned.
Michail Antonio 8
The Jamaica international opened the scoring for us today, and he actually took the chance really well. For all his critics, he does offer us a real physical presence up front that we don’t otherwise have when he’s not playing. He could have had more goals today, but a much better all-round performance from the 34-year-old today.
Subs
Carlos Soler 6
Looked lively, but didn’t have enough time really to impact the game.
Edson Alvarez 6
A solid, if not spectacular cameo appearance from the Mexican.
Aaron Cresswell 6
Decent but again, not enough time to judge fairly.
Crysencio Summerville 6
Wasn’t given enough of the ball in his 10-minute cameo appearance, but he did show real promise with a terrific run down the left wing late on in the game.
Luis Guilherme 6
Nice to see the teenager finally given some competitive minutes, but he didn’t really see much of the ball.
It was a vital win for us against Ipswich today, and the West Ham player ratings proved that there were plenty of improved performances from the players in general, aside from the odd few.
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