As Nayef Aguerd fired Marseille to victory over their despised Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint-Germain, the West Ham United supporters must have been left wondering if the entirety of creation was set up as a joke at their expense.
Maybe the Almighty is a particularly cruel Tottenham supporter.
Or maybe this is just the way of things when a club underachieves so dramatically. The new faces slowly slip into the same ruts as their long-serving teammates, and those who escape are rewarded with a new lease of life.
In his last three West Ham United appearances, Nayef Aguerd was part of a backline breached on no fewer than eleven occasions. In his first two for Marseille, however, the Morocco international has tallied more clean sheets already than across his final 18 Premier League outings combined.
Not only that, the centre-half has also scored more league goals since moving to France than Callum Wilson and Nicolas Fullkrug between them.
And as Aguerd fired Marseille past PSG on Monday night – establishing himself as an early Stade Velodrome icon in the process – the London Stadium felt increasingly like some sort of impervious dome upon which talent and potential bounce away off the outer layer and those inside splutter on the toxic fumes within.
Nayef Aguerd makes ‘incredible’ Marseille start after West Ham United exit
Aguerd, of course, must take his share of the blame for the manner of his departure. Both in terms of his on-pitch performances and his off-field conduct.
And after Aguerd refused to play against Nottingham Forest in what would have been a farewell appearance – securing a £17.5 million move to Marseille just one day later on September 1st – there will be some less-forgiving supporters at West Ham who may be wishing nothing but the worst.
Right now, however, the sight of Aguerd scoring against the European Champions just two days after the Hammers lost again will do little to lift the gloom.
“Frankly incredible!,” the former Real Sociedad loanee beamed, out-jumping PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier and converting a deflected Mason Greenwood cross as PSG lost at the Velodrome for the first time since 2011.
“I would like to thank the club for facilitating my adaptation. It’s as if I’ve been here for a year. It was a very important match for the fans, at home. We’re very happy.”
Furthermore, while Graham Potter is presiding over the worst defensive record in the whole of the Premier League, Aguerd credits his new boss for doing what his old one could not.
Roberto de Zerbi, a top-drawer tactician if not a particularly great man-manager, restricted PSG to an XG of just 0.63, albeit the visitors were without the talents of Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembele.
“All the credit also goes to the coach and the technical staff,” says Aguerd, a mighty presence at both ends and having followed up his debut strike against Lorient a week earlier.
“We’ll keep working. I hope we’ll continue on this path. It’s not my job to score, but I’m not going to deprive myself of helping the team. We’re working. There are a lot of repetitions and demands in training.
It wasn’t an easy match. [PSG] are a team that plays the ball well, presses, and puts in a lot of intensity. The coach knew how to stop them. It was tough, we had to sacrifice ourselves and make a lot of runs. It worked.”
Mehdi Benatia praises Aguerd move as Emerson Palmieri makes bright start too
As Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos came under fire yet again – Jean-Philippe Mateta became the seventh player to score from a set-piece against the Hammers in five Premier League matches – a pair of former West Ham defenders are clearly benefiting from De Zerbi’s influence.
Aguerd’s PSG winner came just days after Emerson Palmieri rolled back the years against Real Madrid.
“I’m happy for Nayef, whom I’ve known for a long time,” Marseille sporting director and one-time Morocco teammate Mehdi Benatia smiles. “We knew his value. He was rewarded with two goals, but that’s not why he’s here.
“Defensively, he had a great game. We’ve strengthened defensively. That was our concern last year, we conceded too many goals. We have to maintain the necessary concentration and aggression in this championship.”
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