---
title: "Athletic Reporter was intrigued by £13M West Ham star, here’s how he did vs Blackburn"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2022/11/10/athletic-reporter-was-intrigued-by-13m-west-ham-star-heres-how-he-did-vs-blackburn/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Samuel Slaney"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2022-11-10T19:00:00Z"
modified: "2022-11-10T19:00:00Z"
---

# Athletic Reporter was intrigued by £13M West Ham star, here’s how he did vs Blackburn

Last night, West Ham United crashed out of the Carabao Cup in what made for a shock exit, courtesy of Blackburn Rovers’ efforts.

West Ham somewhat hammered Aynsley Pears’ goal, racking up an xG (expected goals) tally of [1.86.](https://www.fotmob.com/match/4009213/matchfacts/west-ham-united-vs-blackburn-rovers)

Though, Jon Dahl Tomasson was smart in his approach. Blackburn were conservative but effective. They made it a tight game in regards to the possession ranks and created the same amount of big chances as the Hammers.

In the lead up to the game, [The Athletic’s](https://theathletic.com/3775949/2022/11/08/west-ham-blackburn-ali-humayun/)West Ham replacement reporter, [Ali Humayun](https://theathletic.com/3775949/2022/11/08/west-ham-blackburn-ali-humayun/), stated this via the West Ham vs Blackburn Rovers discussion column: *“It’s a strong starting XI! Interesting to see Emerson start, haven’t seen a lot of him since he joined this summer.*“

Indeed, Emerson’s time at the London Stadium has been hit and miss. In five Europa Conference League appearances, the Italy international has played more than [double the minutes](https://www.fotmob.com/players/267371/emerson) than he has across seven Premier League appearances.

Clearly, the [£13million](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/west-ham-seal-signing-of-13m-emerson-palmieri-d6jkw08h0) man is fancied as a back-up, so it came as no surprise to see him make the starting XI against the Championship side.

Acting as a progressive wing-back in David Moyes’ 3-4-3 set-up, he was one of the better performers for the Hammers, demonstrating both parts of his game with his t[hree passes into the final third](https://www.fotmob.com/match/4009213/matchfacts/player-match-card/267371) and [eight recoveries.](https://www.fotmob.com/match/4009213/matchfacts/player-match-card/267371)

The performance left a lot to be desired for West Ham on the whole, but Humayun was rightfully intrigued, as we got a glimpse of the impact that Emerson can bring to the side, especially in this three-at-the-back system, to which he is specifically cut out for.