Garth Crooks wowed by ‘outstanding’ West Ham United star Angelo Ogbonna v Brighton
Garth Crooks was blown away by an “outstanding” performance from West Ham United star Angelo Ogbonna, naming the Irons defender in his Premier League team of the week.
The Italian kept a second consecutive clean sheet as the Hammers drew 0-0 with Brighton on Tuesday (2 January) to remain three points clear of the Seagulls in sixth place in the Premier League.
Ogbonna had only started one Premier League match this season before West Ham’s clash with Arsenal and BBC Sport pundit Crooks was amazed by how comfortable the 35-year-old looked at the heart of the defence.
Writing in his BBC Sport Team of the Week (3 January) he said: “Captain Kurt Zouma was unavailable for the fixture which allowed Angelo Ogbonna to step into the breach. The Italian centre-back was outstanding considering he hasn’t had much game time recently.
“Ogbonna continued to deputise for the West Ham captain and did a sterling job on Tuesday against a dangerous Brighton side who had put four goals past Spurs in their previous fixture and finished strong against the Hammers.
“West Ham performed as well as they could considering they had lost forward Mohammed Kudus to the Africa Cup of Nations. Ogbonna seemed dead on his feet at the end of the game against the Seagulls but he did his job with another clean sheet.
“Three wins, 10 points and four clean sheets from their past four games is not a bad return and leaves West Ham comfortably in the top six.”
Stepped up
David Moyes isn’t blessed with too much depth at centre-back and most West Ham supporters would have been panicking when they learned that both Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma would miss the showdowns with Arsenal and Brighton.
But alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos, Ogbonna has stepped up to ensure that the Hammers haven’t missed their regular centre-back pairing too much. Their defensive performances alongside Alphonse Areola’s goalkeeping displays have made the Irons incredibly tough to beat.
Some of the 35-year-old’s performances in the Europa League this season had fans and pundits suggesting that his time at the highest level could be coming to an end, but when Moyes has needed him, he’s stepped up.
Moyes will be hoping that he will be able to call upon Zouma sooner rather than later, but until the Frenchman is back fit and available, Ogbonna has shown that he is still a more than able deputy.
In other West Ham news, one journalist has shared a new admission surrounding Kudus’ start at the London Stadium