Player by Player Analysis: Leeds Utd 2-2 West Ham Utd

West Ham finally ended their run of defeats last night with a 2-2 draw against Jesse March’s Leeds.

The Hammers changed formation to a 4-3-3 and got much improved performances out of two of their major summer signings: Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paquetá. Both players scored and both were far more able to maximise their qualities as David Moyes’ team pressed more intensely (6.89 PPDA) than in any match since their 4-1 win over Aston Villa in October 2021 (5.83). As such, it was a huge disappointment that the team weren’t able to secure all three points.


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After taking a 2-1 lead early in the second half thanks to Scamacca’s brilliant long-range effort, Moyes’ side began to play with far greater assuredness and fluency, but the collapse that followed only emphasised the brittleness of a squad low on confidence and a manager regularly making missteps with substitutions. Lots to build on and lots to learn.


Player Ratings

Łukasz Fabiański (9)

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for Fabiański as he hasn’t provided the kind of reliability between the sticks that we’ve become accustomed to across recent seasons but he was back to his best last night. With two brilliant saves from Rodrigo late in the match, the Pole made sure that West Ham would take at least a point away from Elland Road.

Vladimír Coufal (7)

Before Crysencio Summerville assaulted him and somehow managed to stay on the pitch, Coufal was having an excellent game. Pressing intensely against the winger, Coufal consistently minimised space to turn and forced the ball back which allowed the forwards to continue the press in hopes of securing a turnover or forcing Leeds to go long. West Ham got significantly worse after he came off.

Craig Dawson (4)

If there’s one player that absolutely will not cope with a transition to a higher pressing approach, it’s Craig Dawson. Caught out for both goals as players were able to move through central areas at speed, this system is nightmarish for Dawson and it’s imperative that West Ham replace him in the starting lineup in order to continue to play this way.

Nayef Aguerd (4)

A first Premier League start for Aguerd and it was clear to see that the Moroccan isn’t quite up to speed yet. Though he started well with a brilliant recovery challenge to bail out Thilo Kehrer, there were more than a few cheap giveaways and a couple of hairy defensive moments. Getting caught out by one lump forward as he completely misread the flight of the ball and allowed Rodrigo to get in behind was a bit disastrous and we’ll need to see huge improvement from defensive set-pieces too.

Thilo Kehrer (2)

I have absolutely no idea how Thilo Kehrer managed to stay on the pitch for the second half. The German’s first 45 minutes amounted to one of the worst individual performances seen at West Ham in recent memory. Calamitous doesn’t do it justice. Kehrer was repeatedly caught out and beaten by Brenden Aaronson while losing his aerial duels and constantly giving the ball away. He’s not a left-back and, on current form, he’s not good enough to start in any of the positions in a back four in the Premier League.

Lucas Paquetá (7)

Right from the start of this match, you could see Paquetá’s ability to press while being both hugely press-resistant himself and capable of providing consistent quality in possession. He was at fault for Leeds’ first as he passed Tyler Adams on to Rice and took responsibility for Wilfried Gnonto without ever getting into a good position to stop the Italian, but it’s clear to see how important a player he will be as part of a midfield trio. Took his penalty well.


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Declan Rice (4)

Caught out of position and slow to react from throw-ins for both goals (though the first was a result of a mix-up with Paquetá) this wasn’t Rice’s finest display. Wherever he ends up playing his football, he will most likely be slotted in as a sitting midfielder and he must provide the kind of discipline and composure required to master this position. Too many wayward shots from distance, a couple of instances of overeager pressing or loss of positional discipline, and a lack of assertiveness in the final 15 minutes undermined this performance. There were lots of promising moments, and he’s more than good enough to be outstanding in this role for West Ham, but he needs to hit that top individual level to help his team turn the corner.

Tomáš Souček (8)

It has been some time since we’ve seen the balance between Rice and Souček set to allow Souček to press and attack the box with Rice left sitting and the return to this approach led to a hugely improved individual performance from the Czech midfielder. His pressing was excellent throughout this match and helped set the tone for those around him. Four combined tackles and interceptions and a boatload of good headers in the second half made for a positive display.

Jarrod Bowen (7)

Seeing Bowen pressing again was lovely. He has so much energy and his insistence on chasing absolutely everything was vital to the positive moments West Ham had in the first half. He won the penalty and also provided two brilliant moments of quality down the right with dribbles and deliveries into the box. Things tailed off somewhat towards the end but there have been really positive signs from Bowen across the last few matches.

Gianluca Scamacca (8)

There’s the player that West Ham signed for £35 million (quid). We finally saw a high level of off-ball intensity from Scamacca as part of a super pressing unit and caught a whiff of the ridiculous quality he can offer on turnover with that spin and finish early in the second half. It was a beautiful goal, and it was his positive play down the left that generated the penalty too; David Moyes must continue to establish a style of play that gets these improved levels out of Scamacca and Paquetá.

Pablo Fornals (6)

If Fornals had taken his chances in this game, he would’ve coasted to a man of the match performance. His finishing was abysmal, as he wasted three or four great opportunities, but his pressing, link-up play, and incisive passing have been desperately missed and he has to continue to start football matches. Frankly, West Ham have looked lost without him.

Michail Antonio (4)

The second game in a row where things haven’t really worked for Antonio when coming off the bench as a second half substitute. Although he did make a crucial block on the line to deny Liam Cooper a winning goal, Antonio failed to provide the security in possession that Scamacca had and couldn’t really use his speed to threaten in behind.

Aaron Cresswell (5)

I’d love to know what has happened to Cresswell’s open-play crossing but it’s just disappeared. The left-back got into great positions on a couple of occasions after coming on but failed to deliver any quality to the box.

Saïd Benrahma, Flynn Downes – N/A

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