David Moyes’s first test was to come against one of the best upcoming managers and his team. It surely would have given him a lesson and some positives as his team crashed to a 2-0 defeat courtesy to the goals of Hughes and Richarlison.
West Ham did miss a fair share of chances of their own and could have easily made the scoreline look like something else but it’s too late now. Here’s how the flattened hammers have been rated:-
GK: Joe Hart – 5/10
Made a huge save in the second half from a cross and a header but he could have done better against the shot of Richarlison.
RB: Pablo Zabaleta – 6/10
He did manage to handle Richarlison well until he was out of position and the Brazilian took advantage. His work rate still seems to be fine for his age and West Ham will need him for the games ahead.
CB: Winston Reid – 5/10
Tidy until he got completely picked apart by Richarlison for Watford’s second.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 7/10
Looked like a new confident player today. He used the ball well whenever he had it and he didn’t hesitate a bit to use his head during aerial situations. Strong and decisive.
LB: Aaron Cresswell – 3/10
He was heavily disappointing personally for me today. He got the ball on few occasions but the brave runs he used to make have all gone missing. He needs to pick himself up and start delivering again both in terms of the attack and defence.
CM: Mark Noble – 6/10
His cleverness probably provided another dimension for West Ham as most of his passes were accurate. Nothing brilliant apart from that.
CM: Pedro Obiang – 5/10
Workrate looked to have been improved a lot better this time but he looked rusty on a lot of occasions as well.
CM: Chiekhou Kouyate – 2/10
Both his misses proved to be extremely costly for his team. The second one especially was on a platter for him and he missed it awkwardly. Also, some of the passes he made looked like they were made just for the sake of it. Such stuff certainly needs addressing.
LM: Manuel Lanzini – 5/10
A few sharp movements and instances of good football but nothing effective in terms of end product.
RM: Marko Arnautovic – 7/10
Missed a great chance to draw West Ham level but he looked a lot better today than he did under Bilic ever. He was tracking back with responsibility and the ball he gave for Kouyate should have received justice.
ST: Andy Carroll – 3/10
Cut the image of a frustrated person and was subbed off in the second half.
Substitutes:–
FW: Diafra Sakho – 5/10
Average and he has to do better to give Carroll or even Hernandez later on to have something to think about.
M: Arthur Masuaku – 6/10
The ball control looked to be good and it’s totally down to him and the manager as to how much he can do to win the confidence of the fans.
