Huddersfield Town suffered their first defeat of their Premier League season against West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Hammers deserved to win on the night, but the goals conceded were both a bit unlucky. Town’s performance wasn’t as at the same level as their other Premier League games so far.
Find out below how the individual players got on.
Jonas Lössl – 7 out of 10
Not at fault for either goal and didn’t do much wrong otherwise. He made a good save from a deflection in a crowed box from a corner in the first half.
Embed from Getty Images
Chris Löwe – 5 out of 10
Had a tough night up against Antonio, who was stronger and faster than Löwe. He also fluffed a couple of good crossing opportunities.
An uncharacteristic bad performance, which can be forgiven after his excellent form in Town’s previous games this season.
Embed from Getty Images
Christopher Schindler – 8 out of 10
Andy Carroll was an absolute monster but Schindler fought hard to stop him from getting his own way. Made some excellent tackles in the second half and was generally a rock.
Embed from Getty Images
Zanka – 6 out of 10
The Dane did his bit when going up against Carroll, winning headers or at least doing enough to deny good chances from aerial balls.
Zanka has had a but if stick for his distribution but I thought it was OK against West Ham. He’s still not linking up well with Smith but not as many wasted long balls.
I originally gave Zanka a 7, but have knocked him down to 6 because he turned his back on the ball for the first goal. The ball deflected off his back and ballooned in. It’s not like there weren’t several other major errors from Town players in the build up to the goal, but unortunately, his mistake was severely punished.
Embed from Getty Images
Tommy Smith – 6 out of 10
Smith struggled to make an impact on the game. He rarely got forward in attack and made a few mistakes too.
It’s hard to know if it’s lack of fitness, a dip in form or if he’s struggling with the step up in class. Whatever the reason, he’s not reaching the levels he did last season.
Embed from Getty Images
Philip Billing – 5 out of 10
Billing lost the ball in dangerous areas on several occasions. Including the build up to the first goal. He also dropped too deep at times and left space for West Ham’s midfield to attack.
Billing had a lot of qualities but there are weaknesses in his game too. It might be time to bring Hogg or Williams into the defensive midfielder role.
Embed from Getty Images
Mooy 7 out of 10
Not as influential as earlier games but he was still able to hold possession in tight areas and link up play.
He often gets into positions where he’s on his left foot but chooses to turn to put the ball onto his stronger right foot. I think he should have more confidence in his weaker foot as he can deliver good balls from it.
Embed from Getty Images
Rajiv van La Parra – 5 out of 10
A classic VLP performance, some great counter attacking runs and he brought the ball forward better than nearly any other Town player. He does some excellent work at times.
But, and there’s always the same but, his final ball was not good enough. He also ignored easy balls because he wanted to try and take on the opposition singlehandedly.
He’s got all the attributes to be a great player but his decision making is poor.
Embed from Getty Images
Elias Kachunga – 6 out of 10
Struggled to get the involved and couldn’t find much space. A few flashes of his old self but not enough.
I wonder if Wells not playing is meaning he isn’t getting as much opportunity to ghost into the box. Mounié plays more centrally and doesn’t drop off as much as Wells did last season, so doesn’t create space for Kachunga to attack.
Embed from Getty Images
Tom Ince – 7 out of 10
Went close with a shot against the bar towards the end. He was lively and our biggest threat at times.
He tended to drift wide though, meaning there wasn’t the link play between midfield and attack that a number 10 usually performs.
Embed from Getty Images
Steve Mounié – 6 out of 10
Up against quality centre backs he struggled to get much from them. He worked hard as always, but wasn’t able to get on the ball in dangerous areas enough.
Scott Malone 7 out of 10
Made some great runs forward and looked a threat when he replaced Löwe. He was caught out defensively a couple of times, but we were chasing the game at that stage.
The whole team improved when Malone came on. Wagner has a tough choice to make about who to play at left back against Leicester on Saturday.
Abdelhamid Sabiri – N/A
Sabiri probably had enough time on the pitch to make an impact but didn’t change the game.
Its hard to tell from a brief cameo, but he may need a bit of time to adjust to the Premier League. He looked like he wanted more time on the ball than West Ham allowed.
Lauren Depoitre – N/A
Wasn’t able to bully Reid or Collin despite his best efforts. Other Premier League defenders might find it harder to play against such a physical striker.
Andy Carroll proved how effective a big lump up front can be. I hope Depoitre was taking notes.
Well, it’s the end of the line for the run without defeat, but all good things have to come to an end and it’s about the reaction. We met a West Ham side different from the August games as they were at home and that fired them up. They’re still average, there’s nothing special about them and to be truthful you see them struggling still. Mr Bilic lives to fight on another day, and scenes are still unsettled there. Their atmosphere was like a library too – in a stadium designed for athletics they struggled to generate that famous atmosphere they’re renounced for from the Upton Park days. Even on the losing side Town fans made more noise and their fans were leaving in their droves with 10 minutes to go! You wouldn’t think they were winning!
atmosphere they’re renown for*
We will have more defeats, but I sincerely hope it’s not in a run of 4-5 games where we’ve not acrude a point at all as the confidence can drain when you’re losing and it can a challenge to get it back until you’re back on the winning trail. You can learn more from a defeat than a win too, and even though we lost yesterday we learned that we are able to cope with pressure from waves of attacks when having to defend for our lives. We were really unlucky with the first goal – a wicked deflection and the second was just not cleared from a crowded penalty area. Both goals preventable, so the story could have had a different ending.