West Ham News View: Moyes right to ask for more from struggling Irons ace
It seems that the West Ham United supporters have been waiting for the old Manuel Lanzini to return to action for about a year now.
The Argentine international had been out for near enough that amount of time with a serious injury, of course, but he’s never really found his feet since returning to the fray.
This season, certainly, has been a disappointment in regards to the 26-year-old – and West Ham in general, to be honest.
New Hammers boss David Moyes obviously agrees, because he called for more quality and consistency from the playmaker this week.
“You need to take his injury into consideration,” he said, as per Football London [13:07]. “We’ve got a close affection to Manu because of how he played last time but we’re demanding of him to get back to those levels.
“We need him, he is a key creative player. He’s had a bad injury but [we’re] looking at it like he is a really good player who we want to get back to top form.”
That’s a pretty reasoned, sober reflection on Lanzini’s situation from Moyes. He’s been about as clear as he could be without tearing into the Argentine.
Moyes knows what Lanzini can do, he saw it when he was previously in charge during the 2017/18 season.
The playmaker finished that campaign with five goals and six assists, and averaged 1.6 shots, 1.5 key passes and 2.4 successful dribbles per game. His average WhoScored rating for that season was 7.04.
This term, though, he’s failed to score and has produced just two assists. Furthermore, he’s averaging 1.1 shots, 1.6 key passes and 1.9 successful dribbles per game with a WhoScored rating of 6.73.
The tangible production simply hasn’t been there, and the supporters are starting to become frustrated. Moyes’ insistence on selecting Lanzini over summer signing Pablo Fornals is coming increasingly under-fire.
But the player himself can do his manager a favour by returning to the outstanding form we all know he can produce. It’s all up to him.
In other West Ham news, the club have reportedly been offered the chance to sign a Belgium international on loan this month.