Nayef Aguerd could face brutal West Ham United axe after shocker v Newcastle, Konstantinos Mavropanos opportunity lies in wait
West Ham United summer signing Mohammed Kudus scored an 89th-minute equaliser to deny Newcastle United victory in a pulsating match but Moyes could face a crucial decision on Nayef Aguerd after an ineffective display.
The Magpies looked to be heading for a fifth straight win on Sunday (8 October) when Alexander Isak’s second-half double turned the game around, following Tomas Soucek’s eighth-minute opener for the Hammers.
But Kudus’ first Premier League goal since joining West Ham in the summer, a driven effort into the bottom corner, ensured the points were shared at the London Stadium.
The West Ham United fans went through a whole range of emotions across the 90 minutes against Eddie Howe’s side and at half time it looked as if their team would equal their best league start since the 1999-2000 season, putting themselves on track for 16 points after eight games with a win over a leggy Newcastle.
However, Moyes’ men were made to rue some costly errors at the back which lead to Isak’s double and one man majorly guilty over Newcastle’s fight-back was Aguerd who again put in a hapless performance in front of his own fans.
Moroccan international, signed for £30m (Sky Sports) from Rennes in the summer of 2022 has endured a difficult past few weeks in Moyes’ side, especially after gifting a needless penalty against Liverpool on 24 September when he tripped Mohamed Salah in the box.
Moyes was already unhappy with Aguerd after his missed header let Julian Alvarez in to score as Manchester City inflicted the Irons’ first defeat of the campaign a week earlier at the London Stadium.
Jacob Steinberg, writing in his piece for The Guardian (29 September), believes West Ham United now have competition for places with Konstantinos Mavropanos available which could mean Aguerd may be dropped with the defender lacking concentration after the summer interest from Saudi Arabia.
After what happened against Newcastle on Sunday (8 October), that may well be the case as the former Rennes centre-back once again showcased his recent frailties which ultimately cost his team some crucial three points.
In his 90 minutes on the pitch, Aguerd failed to win a single tackle, or a single interception and only won one of his duels, lost possession of the ball 14 times, only successfully completed 62% of his passes and only completed 5 of his 17 long balls (SofaScore).
Aguerd has proven a crucial and effective component when playing out of the back since his move in 2022 but his performance against the Magpies was a complete far cry from what he’s shown previously, as the stats indicate.
Mavropanos impressed on his first start against Lincoln City and is certainly gearing up for a regular berth in the Premier League, and it is most likely to be at Aguerd’s expense.
An unbelievable problem for Moyes to consider ahead of the international break.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have sent out a strong message to the rest of the Premier League after one exciting London Stadium announcement.