What was really wrong with West Ham’s worst player as Newcastle win marred by fears

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West Ham put in a brilliant performance to beat Newcastle 2-0 but the victory was marred by an incident involving one star.

Dark clouds that had been gathering over West Ham were lifted on Monday night.

There was palpable relief as the Hammers finally put in a proper performance – arguably their best of 2024.

Goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka sealed a deserved 2-0 win on the road for the Hammers.

The players ran themselves into the ground for under pressure Julen Lopetegui.

West Ham’s new-look squad knew the manager was in danger of being sacked.

So the response says a lot about what the dressing room thinks of the Spaniard.

West Ham were excellent to a man. Well almost.

Ten of West Ham’s 11 starters got superb ratings of 9/10 and 10/10.

Suddenly new life has been breathed into the campaign.

It was a performance built on West Ham’s much maligned new signings.

Technical director Tim Steidten was hailed a hero after signing nine players in a £155m summer splurge.

But, along with Lopetegui, he has been made a villain as several of them have struggled.

Newcastle win marred by fears over £30m West Ham star

The likes of Max Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Crysencios Summerville and Carlos Soler were absolutely superb in the Hammers’ morale-boosting victory on Tyneside.

West Ham’s least impressive player on the day was also a summer arrival, though.

Jean-Clair Todibo has endured a strange start to life with the Hammers.

The French defender has looked like a world beater in a couple of games.

In others he has been an absolute liability.

Perhaps Irons fans should not be too surprised by that rank inconsistency.

After all Todibo found himself at Nice after flopping following a big money move to Barca as a young defender.

Despite being highly rated in France he has been ignored by Didier Deschamps too.

West Ham fans can see a star there, though.

There are shades of Rio Ferdinand in the £30m signing’s play at times. At others a touch of the Roger Johnson’s.

It was more of the latter for Todibo at Newcastle before he was taken off in the 57th minute as the only player to get less than a 9/10 rating.

What was really wrong with West Ham’s worst player in win

Now we can reveal what was really wrong with West Ham’s worst player as Newcastle win is marred by fears.

Todibo made a complete hash of a clearance which should have seen Newcastle equalise.

Lukasz Fabianski saved the day, though, to preserve West Ham’s lead.

Todibo was seen as the jewel in the crown of West Ham’s summer signings.

But his performances have been more like a rough diamond thus far. One that needs serious polishing if he is to excel in the Premier League.

He appears to have all the attributes but concentration and decision-making have been questionable.

While Max Kilman was brilliant, Todibo looked shaky.

He sat on the pitch just over 10 minutes into the second half and was substituted.

Todibo looked visibly upset at having to come off.

It sparked fears he could face an extended spell out through injury.

Major relief for Hammers over Todibo

That would be just West Ham’s luck the game after he officially triggered the obligation to buy clause in his loan from Nice.

It seemed the win may have come at a heavy price.

But there’s major relief for West Ham.

Because Todibo was suffering a stomach issue after a bout of illness and should be fine for Arsenal.

Heading into the game Lopetegui revealed he had concerns over the availability of two players for Newcastle.

One of those was Lucas Paqueta – who was passed fit to put in his best performance of the year.

The other was Todibo.

Both were touch and go but started the game.

While Paqueta was brilliant, Todibo struggled and eventually succumbed to the issue on 57 minutes.

The issue is said to be minor and should be fine with a few days of rest.

“He was in discomfort with his stomach and it was affecting his mobility,” Hammers News was told by a West Ham source.

“He tried to play on through it but the manager did the sensible thing.”

So the Hammers emerged from St James’s Park with three points and unscathed.