West Ham United star Dimitri Payet has been subjected to criticism from a number of pundits recently, particularly following the defeat to Everton.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
The Hammers slipped to their sixth defeat from 10 Premier League games when they lost 2-0 to the Toffees, a game which ended a four-game unbeaten run for Slaven Bilic’s side.
The defeat was made all the more frustrating by the fact the Hammers could not make their first half dominance pay at Goodison Park with a series of missed chances.
Hammers fans were concerned at how quickly heads dropped following the opening goal given the mini-revival of late.
It was one of star man Dimitri Payet’s worst games in a West Ham shirt typified by a lack of workrate and continually trying to beat players in tight positions rather than pass and keep attacks alive.
West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet
As a result, the Ballon d’Or nominee has been rounded on by pundits from Stan Collymore to Jamie Redknapp and Alan McInally.
Redknapp, son of former Hammers boss Harry, told Sky Sports that he felt Payet ‘went missing’.
Even before that game Stan Collymore, a former Liverpool teammate of Redknapp, told BBC Radio 5 Live 606 he felt Payet was overrated.
“He is sitting on a huge contract at West Ham,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live 606.
“But if you’re the player that scores goals and free kicks in Euros and has a great first season in the Premier League, is it too unreasonable to expect him to be the difference, as West Ham bed in at home?”
Meanwhile writing in his column for Sky Sports, Alan McInally said: “Dimitri Payet is fantastic but hasn’t done it yet.”
West Ham fans
It’s not just the pundits who have been critical of the mercurial midfielder, though, with fans also turning on the star.
One West Ham fan surmised the general consensus nicely after calling talkSPORT’s Full Time Phone In after the Everton game, as reported by the Daily Star.
“He’s going to France, he’s looking a world-beater and he’s coming back and expecting other people to do his game,” Russell the West Ham fan said.
“He’s probably playing for 20 minutes every game and he has to start doing more for the team. Payet could decide to leave in January and at the moment his body language is really lacking.”
West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet
But the criticism is both short-sighted and harsh.
Not only is Payet the leading assist maker in the Premier League this season despite missing his side’s opening fixtures through injury, ahead of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, but he has also provided two magical, game-defining moments so far.
His goal of the season contender against Middlesbrough kickstarted West Ham’s recent revival while his 96th minute wonder free-kick against Accrington Stanley ensured the Hammers made it through to face and subsequently beat Chelsea in the EFL Cup.
While there is no disputing he had a bad game against Everton, he was not the only one, with perhaps only Adrian, Pedro Obiang and Edimilson Fernandes emerging from that game with any credit.
Such overreaction, particularly from his own fans, could well persuade Payet to ply his trade elsewhere come January and if West Ham fans think it is bad now, contemplate if you will where the side would be without him.
That would also be bad for the Premier League as a whole with only a handful of truly top class players currently strutting their stuff in what is billed the best league in the world.
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