Manor Solomon's whirlwind first fortnight in claret and blue continued to produce more than his side's results deserved on Saturday, as West Ham United's first home league game of the season unravelled into a 1-2 defeat by Charlton Athletic at London Stadium.
The Championship newcomers took the lead through Charlton, and although Taty Castellanos was handed a stoppage-time lifeline from the penalty spot, his effort struck the base of the post, leaving West Ham to open their home campaign with nothing to show for it.
Amid the wreckage of a difficult afternoon for Nuno Espírito Santo's side, Solomon was one of the names supporters kept returning to. Steve Eisner, a widely followed West Ham fan analyst, wrote in a post carried by ONE that the Israeli winger "was our sharpest and most lively player in the first half" and "one of the few who looked truly ready for the game today."
According to ONE, Charlton set out to nullify Solomon specifically, doubling up on him for long spells and limiting the space he could work in - a mark of respect, in effect, for a player only two matches into his West Ham career. Even so, a fan rating site handed him a mark of 5, comfortably one of the higher scores dished out to a West Ham player on a day when most ratings sank low.
Solomon's other notable contribution came just before the break, when a shot he dragged goalward from the edge of the box was scrambled behind for a corner by Charlton centre-back Billy Koumetio - about as close as West Ham came to troubling the visitors' goal in the first 45 minutes.
Eisner's critique, as relayed by ONE, extended well beyond Solomon's individual display. He pointed to West Ham's reliance on long balls forced out to the flanks - 38 of them by his count, with only 10 finding a teammate - as evidence the team still lacks a clear attacking identity under Nuno, drawing an unflattering contrast with the more structured approach favoured by David Moyes during his time at the club.
Solomon's early West Ham story has otherwise been a rare bright note in a bruising opening to the season. He signed from Tottenham Hotspur on 10 August, and needed only his full debut - a 2-2 draw at Burnley six days later - to get off the mark, scoring West Ham's second goal in a display that also saw him lead the match for take-ons and shots.
The Israel international arrives at West Ham with an eclectic résumé: three Ukrainian league titles at Shakhtar Donetsk, spells in the Premier League with Fulham and Tottenham, a productive loan at Leeds United during their Championship-winning 2024/25 campaign, and stints in Spain and Italy with Villarreal and Fiorentina.
For West Ham, the manner of Saturday's defeat will sting far more than Solomon's promising cameo will soothe. But with two matches gone in a season already carrying heavy expectations at London Stadium, the early signs are that the club's newest Israeli signing will be one of the more reliable performers whatever unfolds around him.
