West Ham’s summer signing of Thilo Kehrer was deemed a necessary one because of the lack of centre-back options at the London Stadium but his form since joining suggests that it was a big mistake to bring him in.
With David Moyes’ injury crisis in defence now seemingly over, the Scottish manager must consider ditching the German defender for good, as he looks to turn the Hammers’ form around and keep them in the Premier League.
Why should West Ham ditch Kehrer?
Since joining in a £10.1m deal from PSG last summer, the 26-year-old has gone on to make 18 appearances in the Premier League for Moyes’ side, earning a shocking 6.36 rating from WhoScored for his performances.
This ranks him as the 19th-best performer at the London Stadium so far this campaign, which emphasises just how poor he has been since swapping Paris for London.
Only Lucas Paqueta has been dribbled past more in West Ham’s squad, while the German, who earns £80k-per-week, also boasts the unfortunate achievement of being the only player to score an own goal this season.
He also ranks joint-second for the player to concede the most fouls per game this term, which suggests that he hasn’t quite got to terms with the speed and physicality of attacking players in England’s top flight.
This was emphasised earlier in the season when West Ham could only muster a 1-1 draw against bottom-of-the-table Southampton, with Che Adams nearly punishing Kehrer.
Evening Standard journalist Malik Ouzia said at the time: “Big save from Fabianski. Kehrer a bit casual, bullied off it by Adams, bailed out by his ‘keeper.”
It was suggested even before Kehrer’s move to the London Stadium that he could be error-prone, with L’Equipe (via Paris Fans) suggesting that the German’s mistake against Manchester United in the Champions League had seen him lose the confidence and trust of his teammates.
Back in November 2022, Kehrer was claimed to have made five errors leading to goals in the Premier League, which suggests that he has now been a liability for several months.
With the likes of Ben Johnson, Angelo Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd now back to fitness, with Kurt Zouma also still set to return, Moyes will soon be able to cope without Kehrer in his side.
To put it into context just how poor the Germany international has been, WhoScored has awarded the defender above a 7/10 rating just once this season, while he has been ranked below 6/10 on a worrying five occasions.
Given how disappointing he has been since his arrival in the summer, Moyes should look to bin Kehrer from his plans at the end of the campaign, regardless of the division the Hammers find themselves in.
