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Just when it looked like West Ham United were back on track following their victory over Manchester United last week, they came crashing back down to earth on Saturday afternoon.
Julen Lopetegui would have seen the win against the Red Devils as a potential turning point in their season, but a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest will see him head straight back to the drawing board.
The Spaniard wasn’t helped by his side going down to ten men before the halftime whistle, as Edson Alvarez received two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes.
Edson Alvarez let West Ham down vs Forest
The midfielder was making just his fifth Premier League start of the season as Lopetegui added him into a midfield partnership alongside Guido Rodriguez, with Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville ahead of them.
During his time on the pitch, Alvarez took 29 touches, completed only 64% of his passes, and won four of his seven total duels contested.
After 39 minutes, he was booked after foolishly tugging Murillo’s shirt, before sliding in to foul Anthony Elanga minutes before the whistle blew for the interval, resulting in him being given his marching orders.
Already trailing by a goal to nil, it was going to be harder than ever for the Irons to recover as they duly conceded twice in the second half to lose 3-0 and suffer another damaging defeat.
Despite the Mexican being sent off, he wasn’t the worst performer in the West Ham side on Saturday afternoon. That honour belongs to Rodriguez.
Guido Rodriguez’s game in numbers vs Forest
When Lopetegui signed the Argentinian World Cup winner for free in the summer, it was looked upon as a shrewd piece of business.
After nine Premier League starts, the midfielder had yet to demonstrate his class, despite arriving with a solid reputation.
|
Guido Rodriguez’s stats vs Forest |
|
|---|---|
|
Touches |
26 |
|
Passes (completed) |
17 (23) |
|
Tackles |
0 |
|
Possession lost |
7 |
|
Total duels (won) |
3 (0) |
|
Key passes |
0 |
He was hooked at halftime after a turgid display in the first half where he won zero duels, completed just 17 passes, failed to succeed with any of his four long ball attempts, and lost possession seven times.
Rodriguez even committed a foul – resulting in a booking – was dribbled past once and made zero tackles during his woeful 45 minutes on the pitch.
Tom Rennie, editor of talkSPORT, criticised the South American for his display, as he described him as “ineffective” due to his lack of qualities in midfield.
It now remains to be seen whether Lopetegui will continue to persist with him in the centre of his midfield, after such a poor first-half display from the summer signing, who joined from Real Betis on a free transfer.
The Spaniard is a man under pressure. With a clash against Everton up next, anything other than a positive result could see his position become untenable, which is why he will need to be careful with his team selection and could immediately ditch Rodriguez from the starting XI.
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