WHZ Stats: Is Winston Reid still good enough for West Ham?
Winston Reid will return to West Ham from his loan spell at Brentford in the summer with another two years left remaining on his contract.
Reid, 32, hasn’t played for the Hammers since 2018 due to injury issues and his loan spells at Sporting Kansas City and Brentford.
Since joining the Bees in January after his MLS loan deal ended, Reid has made 10 Championship appearances and the stats show that he’s started to do well in West London.
Not only has the New Zealand international shown that he’s back to peak fitness by starting Brentford’s last six Championship matches but he has also started to rank among the top defenders in the second-tier.
According to stats by Wyscout, Reid ranks joint-eighth for shots blocked per 90 minutes in the Championship [0.76] and 26th in the league for aerial duel success [67.65%].
Brentford are fourth in the Championship table and have the lowest xGA (expected goals against) at 34.72, which shows that they are strong defensively and don’t give away too many chances.
That’s largely down to how well they keep the ball and limit opportunities for sides they’re up against, so for Reid to rank among the top players for blocks and aerial duels says a lot.
Since joining Brentford, Reid has also stood out by averaging a huge 16.23 possession recoveries every 90 minutes.
Below is a chart that shows how Reid’s stats at Brentford stack up to his Premier League stats over the years at West Ham.
Reid is conceding more fouls and averaging fewer clearances, defensive duel victories and interceptions at Brentford than he did in the Premier League at West Ham.
However, the fact that he’s doing better in terms of the loose ball duels he’s won, and also the recoveries, shows there could be a glimmer of hope for the veteran Kiwi centre-back.
But that’s not what Brentford fans would likely say after watching Reid have a shocker against Nottingham Forest in his last outing before the international break.
Filip Krovinovic scored a second-half equaliser for Forest in the 1-1 draw against Brentford after Reid pretty much set him up.
Below you can see Reid and Krovinovic in the penalty area. Reid doesn’t need to be man-marking the Croatian midfielder but he does have a good eye on him in case anything happens.
As the cross comes in, it’s going towards Reid, who has no one to mark and a fairly routine clearance to make.
However, as the ball drops to his feet, Reid misjudged his clearance and instead passes the ball directly to Krovinovic.
The Forest midfielder then has all the time in the world to slot the ball into the back of the net and cause a serious dent in Brentford’s automatic promotion hopes.
What does this tell us about Reid?
The long-serving West Ham defender is still a good defender when he’s called upon to do his duties but there are mistakes in him.
It’s likely those mistakes have crept in during his period of inactivity and a spell in the MLS, which is widely accepted at something players in England do when they’re at the end of their careers.
David Moyes has a number of centre-back options available to him at the moment but Fabian Balbuena is out of contract in the summer and Craig Dawson’s future is yet to be determined.
However, if a permanent deal is sorted for Dawson, we don’t see how Reid could fit into the squad at the London Stadium without being nothing more than a reserve player.
Yes, he’s been a good servant for the Hammers and yes, we would love to see him back to his old self.
But injuries and time appear to be taking a toll on a defender who’s started to show signs he’s not good enough for the Premier League anymore.
In other West Ham news, Dawson will have benefitted massively from the international break.