West Ham 3-0 Bolton Wanderers: Man of the Match

To say Bolton Wanderers’ 3-0 defeat at West Ham United was far from inspiring would be one hell of an understatement. We didn’t muster a shot in anger, didn’t come near to trouble their goalkeeper, defended woefully, were tactically inept, and should - and would, had West Ham not stopped playing in the second half - lost by six or seven.

I’m still reeling from the decision to effectively deploy Adam Le Fondre as a left wing-back and play Filipe Morais - a winger - at right-back against an international winger in Marko Arnautovic. Who proceeded to rip us apart whenever he felt like it. Go figure.

So, of all the performances last night, who deserves recognition as Man of the Match? Well, there weren’t many. I thought Jeff King, who most Bolton fans hadn’t even heard of before the game, equipped himself well up against an experienced midfield of Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate, while Adam Le Fondre woke up and put some effort in during the latter stages of the second half.

But for me, the player that stood out was left-back, turned left wing-back, turned left midfielder Antonee Robinson. The on-loan Everton man was the only Bolton player to even attempt to run at the West Ham defence and, despite lacking a telling final ball, actually tried to make something happen.

I like the look of Robinson, and it was easy to see why he’s ousted Andrew Taylor in the regular left hand berth. I’d prefer to see him deployed at left-back with a winger to support him than this wing-back nonsense, but he looks relatively good defensively and a threat going forwards.

Other than that, no-one deserves a mention. It was very, very poor.