Theo Walcott: West Ham man was ‘concerned’ by what Aston Villa star did in MOTD footage
Theo Walcott highlighted how worried Aaron Wan-Bissaka was when facing up against Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers on Sunday.
West Ham lost 3-2 to Villa at the London Stadium, further compounding their misery at home, despite taking the lead twice.
Despite taking the lead in the first minute, the Hammers couldn’t prevent Villa from fighting back twice, with Rogers scoring a fantastic brace.
The result leaves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side 18th in the Premier League, with three points separating them from 17th-placed Leeds.
Wan-Bissaka has had a mixed start to the season, but Walcott said that he had no chance of stopping Aston Villa’s talisman at all.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was hopeless against Morgan Rogers
Wan-Bissaka was excellent during the 1-1 draw with Man United in an attacking sense, but he has come under scrutiny for his failure to track runners in the box this season.
Villa’s first goal came when Rogers evaded Wan-Bissaka, who retreated to the goalline, but failed to keep out his shot.
The England international toyed with the West Ham defender for the majority of the match, and put in an attacking masterclass to seal all three points for his side.
| Minutes played | 80 |
| Pass accuracy | 24/30 (80%) |
| Ground duels won | 2/10 (20%) |
| Aerial duels won | 1/2 (50%) |
| Successful dribbles | 1/6 (17%) |
Speaking on Match of the Day on Sunday night, Walcott felt bad for the West Ham man, who had to deal with Rogers drifting over to his side of the match.
He said: “Rogers connected constantly with Youri Tielemans and was a handful for Wan-Bissaka.
“He operated on the left-hand side a lot, and Wan-Bissaka was instantly concerned from minute one. At times, as a defender, it becomes an absolute handful to deal with a fantastic player.”
With Wan-Bissaka heading off to AFCON with the DR Congo, the pressure will be on Kyle Walker-Peters when he replaces him in the starting lineup.
West Ham’s issues with crosses are incredibly alarming
When looking at the larger picture, West Ham’s season has completely derailed thanks to their weaknesses from crosses.
At the start of the campaign, it was Mads Hermansen’s weakness from corners that was brutally exposed.
Now, low cut-backs have posed a problem, with Alexander Isak and Rogers proving to be clinical from those situations in recent home matches.
With 32 goals conceded in 16 matches, the Hammers are certainly on course for relegation, and Nuno has one clear area that he needs to deal with imminently.
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