Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been well below standard for West Ham this season.

The 28-year-old had a superb 2024/25 campaign, despite how generally poor West Ham were during that season. The full-back even picked up the Hammer of the Year award in his debut season at the London Stadium.

However, this season, he has failed to replicate that form. Barring a few standout performances, such as his Man of the Match showing at Old Trafford in December, Wan-Bissaka has looked a shadow of his former self in claret and blue.

Despite his obvious ability, the Congolese international just looks too nonchalant and casual most of the time. That is not the kind of attitude needed in a desperate relegation battle.

In recent games, Wan-Bissaka has lost his place at right-back to Kyle Walker-Peters, and rightly so. The former Southampton man has been one of the Irons’ most underrated performers this season and has been solid over the last month.

Walker-Peters put in another good shift away at Brentford on Saturday, before boss Nuno Espírito Santo made a very questionable substitution. The Hammers’ manager took off Walker-Peters on 65 minutes, replacing him with Wan-Bissaka.

It was a strange decision. Walker-Peters was doing just fine – it was El Hadji Malick Diouf on the opposite side of the Irons’ backline who was struggling. Additionally, Wan-Bissaka has not started a game for weeks, and at 2–0 down, a like-for-like defensive swap was not needed.

Ultimately, Nuno was punished for this decision. When fellow substitute Adama Traoré faced up two Brentford defenders in a good position on the right wing, Wan-Bissaka just stood there – nearly twenty yards away, not looking for the ball, not making an overlapping run.

He just stood and watched Traoré as the Spaniard lost the ball.

Moments later, Brentford had the ball down the other end. Wan-Bissaka made a half-hearted attempt to thwart the attack, failed, and Brentford scored to seal the victory.

It was a simply shocking display by the West Ham right-back.

Not that the Hammers would have got a point if Walker-Peters had stayed on, but Wan-Bissaka was absolutely the wrong substitute to bring on. He looks like he has checked out, and West Ham can ill afford those kinds of players with three games to go in this fight for Premier League survival.

If we go down – which is looking increasingly likely as I look at the current score in the Spurs game – he will probably be one of the first out the door.

How it has all gone wrong for West Ham *sigh*.