Ezra Mayers reaffirms West Ham first-team credentials after Burton performance
Few West Ham players could hold their heads up after Burton, but Ezra Mayers was one of them.
It was a largely underwhelming West Ham performance on Saturday, as Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side scraped past Burton with a 1-0 win in the FA Cup fourth round.
The League One relegation strugglers took the Hammers all the way to extra-time, and could’ve won the game in normal time too, with Konstantinos Mavropanos lucky to get away with a foul in the box in the first 10 minutes.
Eventually it took a Crysencio Summerville strike five minutes into the start of extra-time to break the deadlock at the Pirelli Stadium, but the celebrations were more out of relief than joy.
Nuno handed numerous young players the chance to shine on Saturday, with few taking the opportunity, but Mayers did.
Ezra Mayers is on the pathway to West Ham stardom
With Nuno going with back three against Burton, Mayers was deployed in the left centre-back role alongside Max Kilman and Mavropanos.
The 19-year-old has made five Premier League appearances so far this season, but this was going to be just his second start of his West Ham career after playing 90 minutes in the third round win over QPR.
However, that was at the London Stadium in a venue and on a pitch he was familiar with, Saturday’s trip to Burton presented a totally different challenge for a young player: one that many of his comrades couldn’t hack.
Ollie Scarles, Keiber Lamadrid and Soungoutou Magassa all didn’t look overly comfortable on a freezing Staffordshire afternoon, but Mayers relished it, playing all 120 minutes and providing the assist for Summerville’s goal.
As detailed in the above graphic from Sofascore, the teenager made 11 clearances, took 120 touches, won three tackles and completed 67 of his 81 pass attempts successfully.
It was the kind of mature performance that outshone his years, and proved why he’s been so highly thought of at West Ham for a number of years now.
Nuno should be priming Mayers for big first-team role from next season
Currently, West Ham have a number of senior and experienced centre-backs in the ranks, with Nuno sure to side with them given the relegation battle they find themselves in.
However, whether it be Premier League or Championship football next season, Mayers should have a great chance of breaking into the first-team picture on a full-time basis in 2026-27.
West Ham don’t have the option to buy Axel Disasi at the end of his loan, Kilman looks a strong candidate to be sold in the summer, and that would leave just Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo as the other options.
None of those should be seen as players that a top-class young player like Mayers couldn’t oust from the starting lineup, and at worst, he should have the chance to push for playing time consistently from next season onwards.
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