Ghana media outlet blast Mohammed Kudus as West Ham United star struggles in international loss v Mexico
West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus started and played the full 90 minutes as Ghana suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mexico on Sunday, 15 October.
The Black Stars suffered their first defeat under new manager and former Brighton coach Chris Hughton after goals from Hirving Lozano and Uriel Antuna ensured the South Americans of a comfortable victory in the US.
Hughton’s men continued their preparations for January’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast with a disappointing performance in which they recorded zero shots on target [SofaScore] and Ghanaian online outlet Ghana Web (15 October) were left unimpressed by Kudus’ performance.
The West Ham United summer signing was given a woeful “5/10” rating with the media outlet writing: “As Ghana’s playmaker, Kudus struggled with the timing of his passes, and he was effectively marked out by the Mexican team.
“He contributed less to pressing the opponents when Ghana lost possession.”
He’ll shake it off
It’s totally understandable that his country were largely disappointed with his performance given Kudus’ remarkable importance to Ghana and their footballing future.
Sunday’s international was a chance for the team to make a statement as they gear up for the AFCON tournament in January but it was a performance which left several questions rather than answers.
And Kudus certainly won’t be impressed by his showing as he picked up the worst SofaScore average rating of any player on the pitch with 6.0/10, losing possession of the ball 18 times, successfully completing just 25% of his dribbles, recorded zero key passes and touching the ball just 36 times.
Such numbers are totally unheard of in Kudus’ game and given his promising start to his West Ham United career so far this campaign, Hughton will have expected him to lead from his best position behind the striker and grab the game by the scruff of the neck but it wasn’t to be.
However, given Kudus’ quality, experience and character, it is a performance he will shake off with real ease.
Certainly, the weight of his whole nation is on his shoulders for January’s tournament but if there’s one player capable of carrying such responsibilities and delivering at the same time, it is the Hammers’ £38million man [Sky Sports].
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have reportedly been told to pay just £2m more to land one of their summer targets in the January window.