Exit-linked West Ham United ace Maxwel Cornet fails to prove point to David Moyes in int’l display
Maxwel Cornet failed to prove a point to West Ham manager David Moyes in his performance for the Ivory Coast against Lesotho on Saturday (9 September).
The 26-year-old was named in the starting lineup and played 69 minutes as his side earned a 1-0 victory in the African Nations Cup qualifier.
But the winger, who was linked with Everton towards the end of the transfer window, didn’t stand out as he aims to try and earn a place in the Hammers starting lineup this season.
It would be fair to say that Cornet hasn’t had the best time at West Ham since joining the club from Burnley last summer.
He arrived in East London on the back of an impressive season in the Premier League with the Clarets, where scored nine goals and registered two assists in 28 appearances despite his side being relegated.
But following a few outings off the bench for the Irons, he was struck down with an injury that kept him out all the way up until March to make it a difficult start for him in claret and blue.
Over the course of the campaign, he failed to register a single top-flight goal or assist in his 14 games, but he laid on five assists in Europe for the Hammers.
That hasn’t been enough to tempt Moyes into handing him more minutes this season, though, with the winger only playing one minute off the bench in the opening-day draw at Bournemouth.
That led to him almost making the switch to Everton on the final day of the transfer window, but the move never managed to materialise.
Cornet will have been hoping to put in a strong performance for the Ivory Coast to send a message to Moyes that he deserves a place in the Irons side, but he wasn’t at his best in the qualifying game.
In his 69 minutes on the field, he failed to have a single shot and didn’t create any big chances for his teammates despite playing a much weaker team [SofaScore].
The winger had 71 touches and recorded a pass accuracy of 78 per cent, but that fell dramatically to 63 per cent inside the opposition’s half.
He didn’t complete any crosses and made just one dribble, while he lost possession on 16 occasions for his side during the game.
Cornet will likely feel it was a missed opportunity to make a statement to the Hammers boss about why he should be more involved at the London Stadium.
He is going to have to remain patient because there should be more chances coming his way in East London once the Irons get their European campaign underway in a couple of weeks.
In other West Ham news, Boudewijn Zenden sent a message after a Hammers development emerged.