Bad game and bad week for West Ham players in EPL100

A bad week away at Cardiff could have some seasonal ramification for the West Ham team. For the immediate, it has a negative drop in their EPL100 power rankings. The only players who were saved from rankings drops are pretty predictable as all but two players had forgettable games in Wales.

The Bleacher Report weekly ranking, EPL100 can be seen here. It ranks the best players by positions after each week, taking into consideration their performances from the week that was, and the form they have strung together over the past few matches.

Let’s get into the Irons’ rankings:

Goalkeepers: Lukasz Fabianski – 2nd

Previous – 2nd

Colour me surprised on this one. Both Ederson and Leno had great games below Fabianski on the rankings and neither seizes the second place position from him. Not to mention Fabianski had maybe his worst outing in the claret and blue against Cardiff, too.

I was mentally preparing for Fabianski, West Ham’s mainstay in the goalkeeper category to drop out of the top two this week but, his reputation has saved him here. I don’t think there’s going to be a repeat of the off-game Fabianski had here next week so I’m confident he’ll maintain his top-2 position.

Centre-backs: Issa Diop – 18th

Previous – 16th

Yeah, no complaint here from me about Issa Diop dropping. He moved up a few positions last week after West Ham kept a clean sheet against Newcastle, and appropriately he drops after conceding two against Cardiff City.

Diop wasn’t necessarily to blame on the goals. Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna came together on the first goal against to provide Murphy time to pick out a near-post cross and Hoilett time to put it past Fabianski. Likewise, Ryan Fredericks and Fabianski made a mess out of the second play that saw Cardiff double their lead. That being said, you can’t keep a player who lost 2-0 to a relegation team a boost, right?

Central/Defensive Midfielders: Declan Rice – 5th

Previous – 5th

A well-earned stay for Declan Rice. It was a slow moving week for all of the top-8 who all earned stays in the rankings. Rice had a great game, despite the Hammers’ 2-0 loss. He is challenging Lukasz Fabianski for Hammer of the Year right now but it’s a toss-up. Rice continues to pull West Ham forward despite team efforts like this one. He’s often a lone bright spot.

Attacking Midfielders/Wingers: Felipe Anderson – 16th

Previous – 15th

Not a massive drop for Felipe Anderson after his short and unimpressive game and I can’t figure out why. West Ham’s main man this season has gone cold in the past month, capping it off with back-to-back substitutions in game. He hasn’t played much with Marko Arnautovic since the end of January which could also be hurting his effectiveness, likewise, Michail Antonio hasn’t been starting for the Hammers recently either.

Plain and simple, Anderson needs to get back to his best and he needs to do it quickly. I think Manuel Pellegrini will be forced into playing his best team against Huddersfield Town as Europa League football is still a possibility. Anderson can help drag this team forward offensively as Rice does defensively.