Micah Richards and his fellow BBC pundits have given a scathing review of Edson Alvarez’s performance against Manchester United on Sunday.
Alvarez played the full 90 minutes as the Hammers beat the Red Devils 2-1 at the London Stadium — a result that proved to be the final straw for Erik ten Hag.
Statistically, the Mexico international — who earns £100k per week at West Ham according to Capology — put in a good shift, completing 90% of his passes while making three clearances, three interceptions, eight recoveries and one tackle.
However, upon further inspection, Alvarez struggled to cope physically with the challenge Man Utd presented, often losing runners or being caught out of position.
BBC pundits raise serious questions regarding Edson Alvarez
Alongside Stephen Warnock and Jason Mohammed, Richards dissected Alvarez’s performance on Sunday.
The trio raised serious questions regarding the 27-year-old’s ability to compete in the Premier League on a physical level.
“One of the players who suffered in the first half was Edson Alvarez,” Richards said on Match of the Day 2 (via Hammers.News).
“And he struggled because of the pace of the game and Manchester United’s movement in midfield.
“He’s the wrong side of Bruno Fernandes (every time) and it’s a simple run from Bruno Fernandes (to get away from him each time). He doesn’t know where he is, loses him. Pass him on to the centre-back, give him information, if you can’t get there yourself.
“He gets away with it and then finds himself with Ajejandro Garnacho, again tracking back, again can’t quite get back into a position to put him under pressure.
“He’s just not athletically able to make that.”
Mohammed then suggested Alvarez looked ‘very heavy legged’, with Richards in agreement.
“Yes and he gets a little bit lost in positions at times,” the former Man City defender added. “There are times he gets found high up the pitch and it’s very clear his job is to look after Bruno Fernandes.”
