Player Ratings: Manchester City disappoint again in West Ham draw

Manchester City put in a poor performance and were held to a draw against West Ham.

Through five games, Manchester City have dropped seven points and picked up just eight. Many have been quick to defend the team, chalking up this poor start to nothing more than injuries and a short pre-season, but the facts are the facts: this team is playing poorly, even with a very strong team on the pitch. City look slow in attack, content to pass horizontally in front of the defense rather than drive and really create chances, and were punished today with a 1-1 draw against West Ham.

Defense

Ederson (GK): Could do little on the goal and saw no other action on the day. (6)

Kyle Walker (RB): Most of the danger West Ham presented did not come down his side, which he locked down in a solid performance. (7)

Rúben Dias (CB): Is primarily at fault for the Hammers’ only goal of the day and should have done better against Antonio, allowing the forward to get inside position and muscle in a well-taken overhead kick. (5.5)

Eric García (CB): Was targeted regularly when West Ham went forward, but along with Dias allowed little end product outside of the goal. (6)

João Cancelo (LB): One of the only players to show real intent going forward rather than settling for side-to-side passing. He was routinely involved down the left, beating players, getting in crosses, and covering in defense. He even grabbed an assist. A great day after struggling against Porto. (7.5)

Midfield

Rodri (CDM): Was not brilliant by any means, but covered much better than he has in previous games and looked good in the air. Perhaps that’s more down to the quality of the opposition. (6)

İlkay Gündoğan (CDM): Picked a few very good forward passes, but other than that, offered little. (6)

Bernardo Silva (CAM): He was not at the level he played against Arsenal and Porto, and was taken off for Kevin De Bruyne who had a greater impact at the same position. (6)

Attack

Riyad Mahrez (RW): I’m not sure Mahrez should play in games like this. For all of his technical gifts as a footballer, he is a bit of a one-trick pony: stepovers down the right, cut in on his left, bend it into the far post like Arjen Robben. This works brilliantly in one-on-one defensive situations, but in games such as these, where the opposition cuts out nearly all of the space and packs their own box, it just doesn’t work and Mahrez doesn’t have an answer, getting shut out of the game. If a team takes away his first option, they can completely neutralize the tremendous threat he brings. (5)

Sergio Agüero (ST): Offered little while he was on the pitch, but this was due to his fitness, and he unfortunately came off injured. This was the risk in rushing back a 32-year old coming off a long-term muscular injury. He didn’t look fully fit, and now City’s gamble has come back to bite them. With Gabriel Jesus also out for some time to come, City are right back to square one in terms of their striker situation. (5.5)

Raheem Sterling (LW): A poor showing. He’s now regularly being shut out of games, and while this may be symptomatic of the team’s struggles as a whole, something needs to be done. Whether that’s a move back to the right flank or some time on the bench, today’s performance saw him fluff two massive one-on-one challenges in different ways. For the first, his shot could not beat the keeper, and then he grew indecisive and had multiple horrid touches to see the second go to waste. In a team that’s struggling to score goals, one-on-ones are life and death. (5)

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Substitutes

Phil Foden (LW): A Man of the Match performance. He came on and immediately made the difference, making no mistake from close range to get City level. From there, he and Cancelo were among the players really pushing for the winner, to no avail. (8)

Kevin De Bruyne (CAM): The difference between him and Bernardo was noticeable in the middle, as he played balls between West Ham’s defensive lines, caused problems, and got City to make some good chances, though no one could find the end product. (7.5)

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB): A really strange substitution late in a level game against West Ham. With Ferran Torres, fresh off a brilliant midweek goal, on the bench (he should have started), Pep Guardiola opted to sub on Zinchenko and move Cancelo to his natural right-back. This was a defensive change, as the Portuguese was causing constant problems on the other side and was largely taken out of the attacking equation on the right. An odd change in a 1-1 draw against weaker opposition. (6)