West Ham player ratings vs Arsenal: Nightmare for Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma as Hammers hammered

West Ham player ratings vs Arsenal: Nightmare for Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma as Hammers hammered

West Ham suffered the fourth-heaviest defeat in their history as Arsenal hammered them 6-0 at the London Stadium.

The Gunners exposed weak West Ham defending in the first half as William Saliba, Bukayo Saka from the penalty spot, and Gabriel all scored from set pieces.

Leandro Trossard added the rampant visitors’ fourth goal in first-half stoppage time, before a further strike by Saka and a world-class effort against his form team by Declan Rice made it 6-0 and a sorry day for David Moyes’s side.

Dom Smith was at the London Stadium to rate the West Ham players’ performances...

Alphonse Areola 4

Sprang into action to tip Leandro Trossard’s first-half volley over the bar with an exceptional save, but was then beaten four times before the break including with a penalty which he conceded by upending Saka.

Vladimir Coufal 3

Stayed very wide but was marked out of the game for large parts. Kept losing the ball.

Kurt Zouma 4

Part of a West Ham defence that simply couldn’t deal with Arsenal’s aerial threat from set pieces.

Nayef Aguerd 3

Got nowhere near Saka for Arsenal’s fifth goal, allowing the England forward to roam free and slam home. Torrid afternoon for Aguerd.

Emerson 5

The best of a bad bunch in West Ham’s defence.

Edson Alvarez 4

Booked really early on for a needless slide tackle on Saka. Replaced at half-time.

Tomas Soucek 6

A reasonably good performance from the Czech midfielder, who mopped up responsibly in midfield and was aerially dominant. This defeat was not his fault.

Ben Johnson 5

Playing out of position as a left-winger, Johnson took to the task well initially. But by the end it was clear he is simply no replacement for the injured Lucas Paqueta.

James Ward-Prowse 4

Anonymous for West Ham. Barely saw the ball all game.

Mohammed Kudus 5

Some nice touches in the very early moments of the first half, but largely this was a match West Ham and Kudus played without the ball.

Jarrod Bowen 4

A highly frustrating afternoon for the forward, who was a lone ranger up front for a toothless team.

Substitutes:

Kalvin Phillips (Alvarez, 46’) 4

One or two nice passes, but still nowhere near up to speed.

Konstantinos Mavropanos (Zouma, 46’) 5

Arsenal continued to score after his half-time introduction.

Aaron Cresswell (Emerson, 76’) N/A

Not used: Fabianski, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Mubama, Scarles