Flynn Downes fails to make most of rare West Ham United chance v Gent
West Ham United remain in contention to make back-to-back European semi-finals despite seeing their 100% winning run in the Europa Conference League ended by Gent on Thursday [13 April].
The Hammers looked on course to make it 11 wins out of 11 in Europe this season when Danny Ings tapped home Jarrod Bowen’s pass after the hosts were caught out by a quickly taken throw-in.
However, the Belgian outfit deservedly clawed themselves back after a wave of pressure in the second half when Hugo Cuypers levelled with a clever touch and finish 12 minutes after the break.
Despite the draw, the Hammers were guilty of slack defending and lack of concentration during the game and were rather lucky to come out of the match still holding a chance of making the semi-finals.
There were a number of underwhelming performances in Belgium which will have concerned Moyes especially with the Hammers facing some crucial Premier League fixtures too.
And there was perhaps frustration that Flynn Downes was not able to take his rare chance in midfield alongside Declan Rice.
There have been much clamour for Tomas Soucek to be dropped from Moyes’ first team permanently after some poor recent displays and Downes was given the nod to start in Belgium, having started just four games in the Premier League so far this campaign [WhoScored].
As per Sofascore, the summer addition from Swansea City would earn a less-than-impressive 6.5/10 rating for his anonymous performance – the joint-worst score of any outfield player to start the game from both sides.
During his time on the pitch, the 24-year-old was fairly consistent with his passing, completing 28/31 with a success rate of 90%, but as has been typical of his time at West Ham, none of them were relatively troubling for the Belgian outfit, rather playing it safe and failing to provide any sort of midfield invention.
Downes also only won three of his seven ground duels and was lucky not to be sent off when he went dangerously through Hong Hyun-Seok in the second half and such a foul may well have landed him in further trouble in the Premier League.
Brazilian maestro Lucas Paqueta only came on with 15 minutes to go and registered more key passes [SofaScore] than any West Ham United player, including Downes who played all of 75 minutes. A poor reflection on the former Swansea man’s lack of influence and quality when Moyes expected it most.
In a rare start, the 24-year-old failed to make the most of his opportunity and leaves the question of whether Moyes and the club could trust him to lead the side when Rice eventually departs beyond this summer.
Unless Downes can drastically improve, it seems increasingly unlikely that he will be replacing Paqueta or even Soucek in the Premier League starting side any time soon.