The battle to be named West Ham United’s Man of the Match, following Saturday’s 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth, is likely to become a two-horse race between Callum Wilson and Alphonse Areola.
Nuno Espirito Santo hoped Wilson would kick on after that equaliser against Burnley before the international break. It’s fair to say the Hammers boss got his wish.
Two rolling-back-the-years finishes, and a ‘Callum Wilson of old’ performance from a man who is now just eight goals away from becoming a Premier League centurion.
Alphonse Areola, meanwhile, was both a goal-stopper and a goal-provider at the Vitality Stadium. Areola became the first West Ham goalkeeper to provide an assist in a league match since Jussi Jaaskelainen in 2014. His long punt upfield controlled and finished expertly by Wilson.
For the remainder of the match, Areola set out to do what he is more renowned for. And didn’t he do it brilliantly? Ten saves to that of Djordje Petrovic’s none. A bonafide Save of the Season contender to deny Eli Junior Kroupi, too.
The former West Ham target has been a revelation at the Cherries. But, like so many of his red-and-black striped teammates, a stunned Kroupi could not find a way past a goalkeeper who stood valiantly in front of the Bournemouth Balrog and ensured that, while Andoni Iraola’s side would succeed in turning a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 draw, this was as far as they were going to get across the Bridge of Kazad-dum.
But do not for a second even think about sleeping on Jean-Clair Todibo.
On a day in which Nuno Espirito Santo’s protect-and-hold tactics very nearly gifted Bournemouth a famous comeback victory – it was one-way traffic throughout the entire second half – Todibo was just as integral as the man between the sticks, even if his contributions might not make quite so many headlines.
Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty ImagesJean-Clair Todibo responds to West Ham United’s reported Tiago Gabriel interest perfectly
It emerged this week, after reports broke claiming that West Ham had made a £15.8 million bid to sign Lecce colossus Tiago Gabriel, that Jean-Clair Todibo had the second-worst aerial duels success rate amongst all of the Premier League centre-backs.
Only Toti Gomes at bottom-of-the-table Wolves ranked lower than him, with a measly 42 per cent success rate.
Tiago Gabriel, a 6ft 4ins giant of a man who sits in the 98th percentile when it comes to aerial duels, looked, on paper at least like a pretty substantial upgrade.
So with the transfer window opening in just five weeks, this was quite the response from West Ham’s oft-maligned Frenchman.
Todibo saved Max Kilman’s skin as Bournemouth were denied the win
No one made more tackles than him against Bournemouth. And while his tally of five clearances was only half of El Hadji Malick Diouf’s tally and four shy of full debutant Igor Julio, it was the work Todibo did with the ball on the floor which really caught the eye.
Into stoppage time, Bournemouth tried to repeat the move which led to their equaliser, via substitute Enes Unal. A threaded ball into the right-hand side of West Ham’s penalty area. Max Kilman was nowhere near tight enough as Unal span him to score, and the former Wolves captain was again in no-man’s land.
But across came Todibo. Speedy, decisive, and alert to the danger. A few moments later, the always tricky Evanilson picked up the ball just inside the box. He attempted to spin and shoot but Todibo, cool and composed yet again, shepherded Bournemouth’s number nine back into midfield.
There were no Areola-esque heroics and few booming Igor Julio-style headers.
Who was your Man of the Match against Bournemouth?
But as Bournemouth held West Ham’s esophagus in a vice-like grip, it was often Todibo who enabled them to draw breath again.
Did we mention the £36 million signing from Nice also assisted Wilson’s second of the day as a game of head tennis broke out in the Bournemouth box? Areola and Todibo; two rather unlikely heroes, and two extremely rare names in the ‘goal contributions’ column.
If Jean-Clair Todibo has ever produced a more consistent, well-rounded performance in a West Ham shirt, well, answers on a postcard please.