Nayef Aguerd may have saved himself from West Ham United axe with 100% performance
Nayef Aguerd played the full 90 minutes as Morocco ran out 3-0 winners over Liberia on Tuesday (17 October), with the West Ham defender rediscovering some good form.
Having started the season excellently, the Moroccan international’s club form has hit a rough patch, having fouled Mohammed Salah to gift Liverpool a penalty in the Hammers defeat at Anfield and missing a header against Manchester City to allow Julian Alvarez to score at the London Stadium.
A poor display against Newcastle United before the international break left many supporters hoping that the 27-year-old would be replaced for the trip to Aston Villa on Sunday (22 October) but Augerd may have given himself a lifeline.
During Morocco’s win on Tuesday, no player completed more passes than the Hammers defender who helped the home side build from the back well with 77 accurate efforts, seeing him complete a huge 92 per cent of his passes, an improvement on the 62 per cent he managed against Newcastle [Sofascore].
These weren’t all simple efforts either, with 10 of Aguerd’s 12 long passes finding a teammate, once again showing a huge improvement from his disastrous day against Eddie Howe’s team where he completed only 29 per cent of his long passes.
The most important aspect of the defender’s game is his work without the ball and the 27-year-old was similarly impressive, winning two tackles in the game and only being dribbled past once. In the air the Irons centre-back was excellent, coming out on top 100% of his duels.
Aguerd would have hoped to be stronger on the ground as he did pick up a yellow card as he lost four of his six ground duels, but he did receive a higher rating than his defensive partner Romain Saiss as they were crucial in ensuring that the African side kept a valuable clean sheet.
The defender also should have arguably done better with his header midway through the first half, as he rose highest following a corner, only for his effort to cause the corner flag more problems than it did the goalkeeper.
David Moyes will have a big decision to make at Villa Park in terms of who he opts to start alongside Kurt Zouma at the heart of defence and while Konstantinos Mavropanos has also had an excellent international break with Greece, Aguerd has given himself a chance of retaining his place.
If the Moroccan is picked to partner the Frenchman on Sunday, he has to show both the Hammers fans and Moyes that he is capable of rediscovering his early season form as Mavropanos is currently breathing down his neck and waiting for his Premier League opportunity patiently.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have been ruled out of the race for Kalvin Phillips’ signature this January