The majority of West Ham players had a poor game against Bournemouth, but some critics are being too harsh on certain individuals.

West Ham’s game against Bournemouth could not have gotten off to a worse start. The Hammers found themselves 1-0 down within the first 5 minutes and this set the tone for the rest of the game.

Playing against the Cherries is never easy, especially given the form they are currently in, but West Ham fans were disappointed with the performance their side put in. A lot of players were just not up to the level required and they will be very aware of that.

In particular, The Standard believes that Zouma, Alvarez, Soucek and Phillips were the poor performers. While it was not the brightest debut for the latter, their rating of a 4 seems quite harsh. While he did have a role to play in conceding the early goal, it was almost entirely down to an incredibly poor pass from Zouma that the midfielder was put under unnecessary pressure. 

As everyone knows, the loanee is going to need a while to find his feet again and, all things considered, he ended up growing into the game.

On the other side of things, the news outlet highlighted James Ward Prowse, Areola and Kudus as the stand out players, rating them all a 7. While the Englishman’s rating is largely down to the penalty he converted, the other two were excellent throughout the match. If it was not for Areola the Irons would never have come away with a point. He pulled off some exceptional saves and continues to prove why David Moyes places so much trust in him.

It was clear to see how much West Ham had missed Mohammed Kudus though. The Ghanaian did not get too much of the ball, but when he did he really produced some magic and created some of the home side’s best chances with his dangerous runs. In particular, it was his dribbling into the box that forced Lloyd Kelly to foul him, earning his team a penalty.

Understandably, the manager is just as disappointed with the performance as the fans are, but there are certainly positives to take away from the game. If they can learn from their mistakes and up the intensity then there is no reason they can not get back to winning ways soon.