FIFA World Cup: West Ham power rankings 1-5; Nayef Aguerd on top whilst Alphonse Areola is still yet to kick a ball.
The Hammers have five stars playing at the World Cup out in Qatar.
It would have been a lot more had the likes of Italy, Ivory Coast, Algeria and the Czech Republic qualified for the tournament.
West Ham have Nayef Aguerd representing Morocco, Declan Rice – England, Lucas Paqueta – Brazil, Thilo Kehrer – Germany and Alphonse Areola – France out at the FIFA World Cup.
Each Hammer has experienced varying degrees of success out in Qatar thus far. But who has been the best, and which player has had the toughest time?
FIFA World Cup: West Ham power rankings 1-5
Here’s my list of the best and worst Hammers players so far out in Qatar.
Nayef Aguerd – 1
The 26-year-old centre-back missed the first two months of the season for West Ham but returned to action just before the World Cup break.
He has been on fire for Morocco out in Qatar. His performance against Belgium last time out was one of the standout displays at the World Cup so far in my opinion.
Aguerd is an absolute colossus.
Declan Rice – 2
The 23-year-old midfielder is the best player at West Ham. And he’s one of the very best in the England squad as well.
Dec hasn’t put a foot wrong during the first two World Cup games for the Three Lions but if I’m being picky, I would like to see him use his explosiveness and power to drive forward more with the ball.
Who knows though, perhaps Gareth Southgate has strictly instructed him against doing just that.
Lucas Paqueta – 3
The 25-year-old play-maker did really well during Brazil’s opener against Serbia, but he struggled to make much of an impact last night against Switzerland, and was hooked at half-time.
Paqueta is clearly an exceptionally talented footballer, and it will be interesting to keep an eye on how he performs during Brazil’s next couple of games, especially with Neymar out injured.
Thilo Kehrer – 4
The Hammers defender has experienced a really disappointing World Cup so far with Germany.
He was left out all together during his country’s defeat to Japan but started against Spain on Sunday night.
The 26-year-old was really poor though and got hooked by Hansi Flick after 70 minutes. Big improvements are needed from Thilo Kehrer.
Alphonse Areola – 5
The 29-year-old goalkeeper hasn’t played yet, so he couldn’t be anywhere else other than last on the list.
Hugo Lloris is France’s number one goalkeeper, but Areola will be hoping that he gets a run-out during France’s final group stage game against Tunisia tomorrow.
The West Ham representation at the FIFA World Cup has been strong so far. And as things stand, I’m fairly happy with how things have gone for our players out in Qatar.
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