Vladimir Coufal truly horrendous – West Ham player ratings v Leicester City

West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal [Credit: Imago]

Tue 3 December 2024 22:24, UK

West Ham failed on their quest for three points as Julen Lopetegui’s side were defeated 3-1 by Leicester City on Tuesday.

Jamie Vardy opened the scoring in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first home game for the Foxes on 3 December, beating the offside trap before firing past Lukasz Fabianski with ease.

Lopetegui will have been disappointed to see his side head into the half-time break behind, but he would have been fuming to see the Hammers go further behind thanks to Bilal El Khannous and Patson Daka.

Niclas Fullkrug netted his first goal for the club upon his return from injury but it was only a consolation in added time.

West Ham Zone rated each player out of 10.

Lukasz Fabianski – 4

Absolutely nothing the goalkeeper could do to keep Vardy out but made a decent save to avoid the striker his second on the night. Saved by VAR after parrying Patson Daka’s strike to Bobby Reid.

Vladimir Coufal (Off for Emerson 62′) – 2

Unlucky to receive a yellow card in the first half, having won the ball and slightly followed through on his man. Defending was slacking as the Foxes doubled their lead and left the right flank open.

Konstantinos Mavropanos – 4

Continuously caught out by Leicester’s offside-breaking runs in behind and could have been punished on more than one occasion. Far too slow and lethargic.

Max Kilman – 5

Made a couple of crucial interventions to break up Leicester’s counterattacks and was happy to bring the ball out of the defence. Little he could do as his teammate was targeted by Vardy.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6

Strong as ever in the right-back spot, really coming into his element and is now one of the first names of Lopetegui’s teamsheet. Far more attacking now, which helps the Hammers in the final third, but couldn’t find the final ball.

Jarrod Bowen leads by example despite West Ham United defeat

Edson Alvarez – 6

Looked much more comfortable on the ball than before his sending-off against Nottingham Forest. Lost possession a couple of times but remained calm and composed. Took a couple of shots out of frustration.

Tomas Soucek (Off for Michail Antonio 62′) – 5

Had a couple of chances to score and should have done a lot better with his header at the back post. Needed to be taken off for attacking reinforcements.

Jarrod Bowen – 7

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Continued to push his side forward as captain, taking several shots at goal and keeping them on target but had goalkeeper Mads Hermansen equal to all of them. Will be disappointed not to hit the back of the net.

West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui
Julen Lopetegui has had a mixed start as West Ham head coach. (Credit: Imago)

Carlos Soler (Off for Lucas Paqueta 62′) – 5

Soler and Kudus finally got to link up after the latter returned from his suspension. Could turn out to be a useful partnership but the chemistry was slightly off. Fairly brought off for Paqueta.

Mohammed Kudus (Off for Niclas Fullkrug 78′) – 5

Much like Soler in the final third, linked up well but, ultimately, was a little wasteful in possession and was beaten far too many times by the Leicester defence. Looked a little rusty.

Danny Ings (Off for Crysencio Summerville 46′) – 4

Looked a little sluggish in the striker position, which was pointed out throughout the first half, and just didn’t look right. Should have been taken off after the first 30 minutes.

Substitutes

Crysencio Summerville (On for Ings 46′) – 5

A bright spark that the Hammers needed at half-time but struggled to get into the flow of the game and failed to have a telling impact at the King Power.

Michail Antonio (On for Soucek 62′) – 5

Made himself a nuisance with his strength and determination but never looked like scoring.

Lucas Paqueta (On for Soler 62′) – 3

Almost invisible. Had zero impact after coming on.

Emerson (On for Coufal 62′) – N/A

Niclas Fullkrug (On for Kudus 78′) – 6

Did exactly what he was asked of him, scoring in added time.

In other West Ham news, Julen Lopetegui will surely be gutted as a European club deny any transfer discussions for a current flop.

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