Match week seven is in the books and after another impressive West Ham performance, there appears to be some credit being given to the boys in Claret and Blue. Here are the players who made the grade for positional power rankings.
Bleacher Report puts in a weekly ranking of Premier League players based off of form and their most recent performances. These power rankings fluctuate regularly, seeing players appear and disappear weekly. After West Ham’s win over Manchester United, a number of players from West Ham have reached the list (or improved their positioning), here are the Hammers who feature:
Check out Bleacher Report’s match week rankings here!
Goalkeepers: Lukasz Fabianski
West Ham’s keeper has had a stay in his 3rd ranked position behind Joe Hart and Rui Patricio. The rankings are cumulative of form so the justifications are worthy for Joe Hart, who have faced the most shots and has the most saves in the Prem, and Rui Patricio who has backstopped promotion side Wolves to an impressive start.
West Ham fans may think Fabianski should be higher on this list, but give it time. West Ham have earned points in three consecutive matches and only shipped two goals. Now that the points are coming it shouldn’t be long until Fabianski shoots to the top of that list.
Right-backs: Pablo Zabaleta
Check your pockets, Zab, you should have Martial, Hazard, Bernard, and Willian in there somewhere. West Ham’s ageless wonder climbs three spots after match week seven to the 6th ranked right-back/wingback in the Premier League.
He’s earned his position in West Ham’s starting XI over Fredericks after many had written him off. Likewise, he has earned his spot on this rankings list as well. He matches the number one ranked right-back, Wolves Matt Doherty for the largest rise (three spots) safely rescuing him from the ever-changing bottom of the list to the middle of the pack. A solid and even quiet day at Brighton should see him retain this position after match week 8.
Centre-backs: Issa Diop
He rightfully deserves a position on this list but I’m going to need to see the justification for a two position drop, Bleacher Report. Jose Mourinho used Diop as a soapbox to point fingers at Ed Woodward after West Ham’s spanking of the Red’s, stating he was a “monster” and “dominated” the Manchester team all match.
Where Diop is, so should Fabian Balbuena be. The two are an impressive pairing that has corrected the path of West Ham’s Premier League season in recent weeks. Diop sits in the 19th position after the inexplicable drop from 17, atop just James Tarkowski from Burnley who didn’t move from the 20th spot after playing just 27 minutes due to an injury. Hmm…
Defensive midfielders/ Central midfielders: Declan Rice
All aboard the hype train! Declan Rice announces himself to Bleacher Report’s list after leapfrogging eleven players and rising from unraked obscurity to debut at 9th position. It was the largest rise in the category and rightfully so. It seems like the rankers may have been waiting to see if Rice would be able to follow up his Everton and Chelsea performances and show consistency. After he did he was rewarded with a back paying of rankings.
Rice is incredibly important to West Ham’s turn of form, and at just 19 years old he is showing maturity beyond his years. When he declares for England over Ireland in the near future, watch the hype train get taken to another level.
Attacking midfielders/ Wingers: Felipe Anderson
It’s nice to see a player get ranked in power rankings for something other than just putting goals in the net, isn’t it? Well, this was the case for Felipe Anderson‘s 13th ranked spot after match week 6 for looking the player West Ham thought they were getting when they splurged on him this summer.
Match week seven is in the books and Anderson has a cheeky backheel flick past on the top keepers in the world to add to his resume. Anderson’s 6th-minute goal against United set the tone for West Ham in the match and justly reward the forward on the score sheet. He is integral to what is shaping up to be a feared front line for the West Ham attack.
Strikers: Marko Arnautovic
Another rise from unranked obscurity, Marko Arnautovic debuts on the striker list in 4th(!) position, behind Sergio Aguero, Troy Deeney, and Roberto Firminho. Arnautovic even earned the Instagram marquee picture and description stating,
"“He does everything: run the channels, find space, hold the ball and finish with venom”"
It’s a well-earned ranking and not having him ranked previously was kind of justified. He missed the Chelsea match and didn’t feature in West Ham’s non-Premier League thrashing of Macclesfield Town, so there was reason to not have him on the list at that time. After holding up the ball for much of the match and slotting home the back-breaking third goal against United, he’s earned the massive ranking debut.
Missed or unranked players
- As mentioned, if Issa Diop is there, Fabian Balbuena should be too. It’s probably due to Diop getting that publicized praise from Mourinho even if it was a ricochet shot at his own team’s recruitment department.
- Andriy Yarmolenko: two goals at Everton, Man of the match against Chelsea, bombs a shot that melted in passed de Gea off of Lindeloff’s probably bruised shoulder. He’s alive in the Premier League, in form, and putting in shifts week after week.
- Mr. West Ham leading the Hammers to results in three consecutive matches against Everton, Manchester United, and Chelsea deserves a shout, too. He also has two assists in this span of games and has Paul Pogba residing in his pocket.