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Former West Ham United star Joe Cole has drawn a pretty interesting comparison between one player and Arsenal star Declan Rice, despite James Ward-Prowse taking all of the plaudits.
West Ham 3-1 Backa Topola
David Moyes and the Hammers opened their Europa League account with a solid 3-1 win over Serbian super league side Backa Topola on Thursday evening. After a fairly tepid first half, where Topola really frustrated West Ham, the hosts were given an early scare upon the second half restart when a defensive disaster handed the away side a shock lead.
Angelo Ogbonna was caught on the ball to display his rustiness in Claret and Blue, but luckily for Moyes, Nemanja Petrovic’s own-goal began to spare their blushes with an equaliser on the 66 minute mark. It took just a few minutes for summer signing Mohammed Kudus to gift West Ham the lead afterwards, as the Ghana star headed home from a corner.
Another new arrival, James Ward-Prowse, supplied the delivery for Kudus before doing the same for Tomas Soucek – who headed home from another corner with eight minutes of normal time left to play. Moyes, speaking after the game, admitted his side could’ve improved in a lot of things but ultimately didn’t fear the worst at any point.
“Tonight I thought we did enough to win although I didn’t think we were great in a lot of things we did,” said West Ham’s manager after the match. “The goal was probably our own doing but I didn’t fear the worst. It was a game where we had the lot of the ball and gave us a chance to see if we could do what teams have done to us lately.
“The mistake changed the game – but it also made us more determined. Kudus I thought started really brightly and came up with an important goal when I couldn’t really see where we would get one from.”
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One star player who missed the encounter, though, was Mexico international midfielder Edson Alvarez. The 25-year-old was forced to sit out through suspension after picking up a red card in the competition earlier this year, during his Ajax days against Union Berlin.
Speaking ahead of the encounter, former Hammer’s midfielder Cole, now working as a pundit on TNT Sports, drew an interesting comparison with ex-superstar Rice. Cole said that while Alvarez won’t directly replace the Arsenal star, he suggested that the Mexican can emulate what Rice did during his West Ham days.
“Alvarez is a big miss for them,” Cole told TNT Sports ahead of West Ham’s group-stage opener at the London Stadium. “[James] Ward-Prowse has taken the plaudits because of his ability and what he’s done, he’s been brilliant, outstanding.
“But don’t underestimate Alvarez. He’s absolutely perfect… not a replacement for Declan because that would be a tall order. But he can do what Declan did for the club.”
While Ward-Prowse has arguably been West Ham’s signing of the summer thus far, Alvarez certainly doesn’t fall far behind. Indeed, the former Eredivisie star has been lavished with praise by sections of the media for his start to life in east London, and his tenacious style is also winning over parts of the fanbase.
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