West Ham United trio Lucas Paqueta, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen all played starring roles for the Hammers in their 3-1 Premier League win over Leeds United on Sunday.
Following Rodrigo’s early goal, strikes from Rice, Bowen and Manuel Lanzini meant that West Ham earned a win in their final home match of the 2022/23 season in all competitions.
The performances of the trio, arguably West Ham’s three highest-profile players, has led to debates from ex-players and regular football columnists Harry Redknapp, Alan Shearer and Garth Crooks when it came to naming which of them should be in their respective Premier League team of the week nominations.
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In his column, former Hammers player and manager Redknapp opted to name Paqueta in his side, saying that everything he did oozed class, having provided the assist for Lanzini’s goal in sensational style.
“Lucas Paqueta was exceptional against Leeds,” Redknapp told BetVictor. “Everything this fella does oozes class and quality and I thought he was the best player on the park.
“His assist for the third goal was just fantastic, the way he rolled the ball with his feet was lovely. It’s taken some time for him to fully settle but what a player West Ham could have here.”
While Redknapp opted to pick Paqueta, former England captain, Newcastle United striker and the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer opted for Hammers captain Rice, who levelled up the game just after the half-hour mark with his fifth goal of the season in all competitions.
Shearer said that his performance showed a lot of dynamism and helped to cap off a very good week for the club, with the win over Leeds coming less than 72 hours after booking a place in the final of the Europa Conference League.
“A dynamic display and scored the opening goal for West Ham in what was an outstanding week for the club as they reached the Europa Conference League final,” Shearer told the Premier League’s website on including Rice in his team.
While Redknapp has highlighted Paqueta for praise and Shearer singled out Rice, former Tottenham striker Crooks has chosen Bowen in his Premier League Team of the Week.
Bowen, who moved to joint-fourth for all-time Premier League assists for West Ham when setting up Rice’s equaliser, also scored inside the final 20 minutes to put West Ham 2-1 up.
For Crooks, he felt that Bowen “destroyed” a Leeds side in serious danger of being relegated on Sunday.
“It has been an amazing week for West Ham. On Thursday night they beat AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League semi-finals and now face Fiorentina in the final,” Crooks told BBC Sport.
“It was an emotional night for the Hammers who could be forgiven for starting slowly against a Leeds side who knew that anything less than a win at London Stadium left their Premier League survival chances hanging by a thread.
“When West Ham did get going they looked impressive with Pablo Fornals, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice all playing a major part. However, it was Jarrod Bowen's performance that destroyed Leeds 3-1.
“His exquisite chip provided the opening for Rice to score and was followed by a lovely strike with the outside of his left foot to put the game beyond the visitors. Leeds now have to beat Spurs at Elland Road to stand any chance of staying up.”
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