Last night, West Ham were well represented as Gianluca Scamacca and Declan Rice both started the UEFA Nations League clash between England and Italy.
The £90,000-a-week striker got the better of his West Ham teammate as Italy recorded a 1-0 win over the Three Lions, relegating them from Group C in the process.
Scamacca held the ball up well throughout and was an aerial threat for his side, although the Italian media believe he could have done a bit better in some aspects.
West Ham star Gianluca Scamacca criticised
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the 23-year-old was ‘slow and unresponsive” against England, although they do concede that he needs his teammates to play to his strengths a bit more by providing some service.
That lack of service was arguably evident in the fact that Scamacca had just 13 touches of the ball in his 62 minutes on the pitch, as WhoScored shows.
Despite that, the West Ham No.7 still managed to have two shots on goal – getting one on target – so he can clearly be efficient when provided with opportunities.
However, David Moyes will surely hope to see Scamacca become less reliant on service, and manage to create a few chances for himself from time to time.
So far this season, the £36m signing from Sassuolo has scored three goals in nine appearances for West Ham.
West Ham shouldn’t worry about Gianluca Scamacca display
In our view, Gazzetta dello Sport have been quite harsh with their assessment of Scamacca.
The Rome-born striker was playing as a lone striker up against three central defenders in Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Eric Dier.
Of course, Scamacca is a physical forward who can hold his own, although he was always going to struggle up against three centre-backs with a lack of service from his teammates.
In truth, we actually think he did quite well in holding up the ball – there is no need for West Ham or Moyes to worry whatsoever, in our view.
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