WHZ View: 2x fewer passes than Fabianski – Moyes hung Johnson out to dry in West Ham v Man Utd
Ben Johnson endured a dismal hour in Claret and Blue colours as West Ham lost 1-0 to Manchester United on Sunday evening.
The Irons could have gone level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea with a win but defeat ensures we stay fifth in the battle for Europe.
There were a whole host of poor performers but Johnson was arguably the pick of the bunch before being hooked in the second-half.
According to Wyscout Johnson lost 67% [6/9] of his duels at Old Trafford – no player on the pitch lost more.
He also lost the ball 13 times which is more than every Irons ace except Michail Antonio [21] and Vladimir Coufal [14] and they both completed the full 90 minutes while he was given a reprieve for the last half an hour of play.
Johnson offered nothing at either end – he failed to win a single offensive duel and was unsuccessful with both of his attempts at crosses.
Meanwhile he was anonymous in defence as he was involved in just one defensive duel – mercurial forward Said Benrahma tripled that in half the allotted time.
Furthemore his passing was nothing short of woeful with a 25% completion rate derived from just four successful passes from 16 attempts in a significant drop down from his previous start v Manchester City where he recorded a 76% just across the road.
To sum up just how appalling this statistic is Lukasz Fabianski completed more than double his amount with nine passes from the Irons goal alongside an 82% accuracy.
There is no doubt that Johnson was poor and he must take responsibility for his own actions – he must up the levels if he is to become an established Premier League player.
But we should not forget the role David Moyes had in this disasterclass.
His negative tactics helped to breed indecision in the Irons ranks and Johnson was the most culpable of being led astray by this.
He started on the left before ending up on the right and that just goes to show the hap-hazard planning of Moyes – it was defeatist and desperate and the 21-year-old was left looking lost and isolated.
We’re backing Johnson to bounce back from this disappointment but we’re less forgiving on the manager’s role in this defeat.
In other West Ham news, Jamie Redknapp fumes at Irons approach in dismal Old Trafford defeat.