West Ham fans are understandably excited for the season ahead, with the impressive signings of Sebastian Haller and Pablo Fornals, plus the long awaited return of Andriy Yarmalenko.
They’ve given the Hammers a breadth of attacking options, but despite the fresh faces, Felipe Anderson remains the star player at the London Stadium.
Anderson was inconsistent in his first season in the Premier League, but showed glimpses of brilliance. Anderson scored 9 goals in his debut season and also registered 5 assists, which isn’t a huge amount.
However, it is wrong to judge players on assists; if the strikers were more prolific, he would have ended up with a whole lot more from the 65 chances he created.
Expect this stat to look considerably better this season with the quality of players signed this summer, an assumption backed up by Anderson’s averages of 2.3 shots, two key passes and 3.7 succesful dribbles per game this season, as per WhoScored.
Speaking to West Ham’s official Twitter, captain Mark Noble was full of praise for his team mate:
Everyone sees the skills and running but his work-rate off the ball, getting back and tackling is fantastic. He is a special player.
After the 5-0 defeat to champions Manchester City, in which Anderson was forced off with an injury, the player admitted how unhappy his side were with the damaging defeat, but remained optimistic:
We have the quality to do much more, but we keep on working and I’m sure things will be better soon.
Read West Ham’s verdict
A quality that cannot be ignored with Anderson is his versatility; able to play across the midfield, and even up front, Anderson is most likely able to cover if an attacking player is injured.
His range of passing, dribbling, shooting ability, and huge defensive contributions would enable him to potentially start for every team in the Premier League, bar Manchester City and Liverpool.
How right Noble was… After a draw at Brighton and consecutive wins against Watford and Norwich, West Ham are looking up and Anderson could be the catalyst for most things good for the Hammers this season.
His creativity, eye for goal and work rate could be the difference between a top 10 finish and a top seven finish. We are ready to see Felipe Anderson at his very best between now and May.
