WHZ Stats: Dawson remains solid on West Ham debut despite one heart-in-mouth moment
Craig Dawson made his long-awaited first-team debut for West Ham on Tuesday night as the Irons held Southampton to a goalless draw at St Mary’s.
David Moyes signed Dawson, 30, on loan from Watford in January but due to his consistent team selection during the first stages of the season, the ex-West Brom centre-back failed to get a chance to show his worth in the Hammers side.
However, on Tuesday, Moyes took the trip to Southampton as a chance to rest a number of his regular starters and start Dawson alongside Angelo Ogbonna at centre-back.
According to stats by Wyscout, Dawson had plenty of work to do in the West Ham back-line as they faced up to a Southampton attack boasting both Danny Ings and in-form Che Adams.
The centre-back made five interceptions, eight recoveries and cleared the ball seven times as the Hammers returned to East London with a point in the bag.
Dawson has always been seen as a no-nonsense type of defender who was adored by Tony Pulis in his spell in charge at West Brom.
However, some of Dawson’s other stats weren’t as impressive as those previously mentioned with the defender winning just half of his aerial and defensive duels throughout the 90 minutes.
Despite this, it would be fair to say that Dawson was a solid makeshift addition to the Hammers’ backline while Moyes kept his regular defenders well-rested ahead of the trip to Everton on New Year’s Day.
But there was one heart-in-mouth moment for Dawson.
In the first half, Ings stuck the ball in the back of the net after a poor piece of defending by the West Ham debutant.
Dawson was close to Ings as he had the ball on the edge of the away side’s penalty area.
However, after a good piece of footwork by Ings, Dawson found himself absolutely dumbfounded and ended up lunging in on the Saints striker.
Dawson’s attempt to tackle Ings was definitely a last resort. If he missed, Ings would be let in on goal for a one-on-one versus Lukasz Fabianski.
Dawson did miss, allowing Ings through on goal and a striker as prolific as him was never going to miss as he stuck the ball past Fabianski.
Fortunately for Dawson and for West Ham, the goal was chalked off due to an offside in the build-up.
Dawson’s an experienced defender who should know that stepping forward like that and matching a last-ditch challenge can get you in all kinds of trouble if you get it wrong.
He was in a difficult position but with Ogbonna nearby, it wasn’t as though Ings was guaranteed to get through on goal if he didn’t make the tackle.
Dawson’s debut was something for him to build on and we expect him to get some more game-time in the coming weeks with a trip to Stockport in the FA Cup on January 11.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie has shared his thoughts on Manuel Lanzini’s future at the London Stadium.