Another Premier League outing, another ineffective Taty Castellanos showing as West Ham United are swept aside by a vastly superior Aston Villa.
On a day when Ollie Watkins pounced on a Mads Hermansen spill to end his six game top-flight goal drought, Nuno Espirito Santo’s £27 million January signing trudged off at half-time destined never to return.
In his 45 minutes on the pitch, Taty Castellanos failed to record a shot on target for the second match in a row.
A very underwhelming Villa Park defeat! 🙄
Describe THAT performance in one word…
Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United runs with the ball under pressure from Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and West Ham United at Villa Park on March 22, 2026 in Birmingham, England.
Of course, chances were always going to be at a premium last weekend against a Manchester City side who always dominate possession. Ditto, away to an Aston Villa outfit who, in Unai Emery’s admission, might have just produced their best first-half performance of the Premier league season.
Still, while West Ham United have certainly benefitted from Castellanos’ off-the-ball work-rate and pressing – he is still an upgrade on Niclas Fullkrug – the Londoners would have expected a lot more goal threat from their £30 million investment.
Taty Castellanos is getting worse at West Ham United
Not only has Castellanos scored only twice in 11 Premier League starts, he has also failed to record even a single shot on target in five different matches.
It is not just the lack of goals – Castellanos was hardly prolific at Lazio either – but the growing absence of even a hint of threat in the final third.
Taty Castellanos looks dejected after West Ham United lose to Liverpool.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
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It’s not as if he is wasting chances. Castellanos’ two goals have come from an XG of 2.67. It is the fact that the Argentine is not even getting chances, owing much to the fact he seems to go missing when his Hammers teammates find themselves in dangerous positions.
Last month, after the 0-0 draw with AFC Bournemouth, Hammers News’ TalkingPoint users argued that Castellanos needed to put himself in goal-scoring scenarios more often.
In the four games since his last top-flight strike – in that 5-2 defeat by Liverpool – a man who once netted four times in a single match against Real Madrid has played over 200 top-flight minutes without looking likely to register a shot on target, let alone a goal.
Who was the BEST of a bad bunch at Villa Park?
Give us your Man of the Match – if you can…
Castellanos was deemed the worst player on the pitch in Hammers News‘ post-match review; a score of 4/10 making him the poorest of a pretty poor bunch at Villa Park.
Even during a sluggish start to his West Ham career on the goal front, the South American would at least bring a sense of chaos. Intensity, some intelligent link play, and occasionally the odd acrobatic volley.
One week after Nuno urged Castellanos to step up in Crysencio Summerville’s absence, their most expensive January signing is offering less and less with each passing game.
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