For a team doing so well this season it is somewhat strange that West Ham United have a number of players who are dividing opinion among fans.
Update on reported West Ham target shows Moyes was dreaming
Whether it was Lukasz Fabianski and Aaron Cresswell at the start of the season to Pablo Fornals, Sebastien Haller and now Issa Diop.
West Ham fans are even divided over players who haven’t signed for the club yet. Many believe reported David Moyes target Josh King would be the perfect addition in January. Others quite the opposite given his record.
There is nothing particularly unusual about West Ham fans seeing things differently to one another at times.
Hammers fans blow hot and cold over Fornals
But with the absence of supporters in stadiums over the last 10 months supporters are given a voice by social media and fan forums.
And some of the debate between West Ham supporters over various players borders on tribalism.
People criticise and call out players online in a way they simply wouldn’t if they were physically at matches.
The player most consistently scrutinised by fans this season is undoubtedly Fornals.
Some fans blow hot and cold when it comes to West Ham’s £24million Spaniard.
Fans call for Spaniard to make way for Benrahma or Lanzini
to And calls for Said Benrahma – and now Manuel Lanzini – to come into the side in his place have been getting louder.
Several below par performances of late have not helped Fornals’s cause.
He was substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. And his replacement Lanzini looked back to something like his old self.
Fornals has been heavily criticised by some West Ham fans. Too slow, too wasteful and doesn’t impact the game enough are some of opinions levelled at the former Villareal man.
Fornals is a Moyes favourite. And it is easy to see why.
A playmaker by trade, the 24-year-old works his socks off for West Ham. He plays out of position without a fuss and tops the running charts too.
Last season, when West Ham needed players to fight for the cause and keep the club in the Premier League, no single player in the top flight covered more distance than Fornals (Sky Sports).
He ran 12.4km per game to top the running stats.
For a spell last season and this, Fornals married his hard work with goals and assists.
Moyes favourite has been key to West Ham’s excellent start and needs a rest not ridicule
He has scored twice and provided two assists so far this season.
But as any frustrated Hammers fan will know, it could and should have been a lot more.
Failure to lay the ball off for a simple Jarrod Bowen tap-in up at Liverpool was a key moment in a game West Ham lost.
Fornals’s shooting accuracy is just 32% (Premier League). He has missed four ‘big chances’ this season and hit the woodwork three times.
So instead of being sat on seven or eight goals with a couple more assists, Fornals now finds his place under real threat.
It is clear from those statistics he has to do better with the ball going forward.
But it is his defensive contribution that has been arguably most crucial to West Ham’s best start to a season for five years.
Nine key tackles, four blocked shots, 13 crucial interceptions, 49 recoveries – at an average of just under four per game – and 37 duels won tell its own story as to why Moyes favours Fornals.
There have been 11 successful 50/50s, seven aerial battles won and crucially zero errors leading to a goal for the opposition.
Much of the criticism of Fornals is harsh. And given his defensive discipline, it would not be a surprise to see him start against Chelsea.
But Fornals does not need a slating from his fans and critics. He simply needs a rest.
He has expended a lot of energy over the last 18 months. Fornals has earned respect and the chance to recharge his batteries without ridicule.
When the time comes that he consistently marries all his hard graft with assists and goals, West Ham will have one of the best all round midfielders in the league.
And it feels like that is just the thickness of the woodwork away.
West Ham fans in agreement as they call on Moyes to start outcast against Chelsea
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