Chris Hughton ‘delighted’ at West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus
Ghana boss Chris Hughton has admitted he was delighted when Mohammed Kudus moved from Ajax to West Ham as he knew David Moyes would help him adjust to a structured style of play.
Having recently named Kudus in his provisional Ghana squad for the African Cup of Nations, Hughton was quizzed on where he believes his best position was, as he revealed he is best as a number ten.
The Ghana boss shared that due to his goalscoring instincts, you want to have him as close to the goal as possible, but he feels he has benefited from playing on the right wing at the London Stadium.
Speaking live on talkSPORT [20 December, 12:46], Hughton shared: “He’s a very talented player. Came through a wonderful academy in Ghana, and obviously spent a good period of time at Ajax where they moved his position.
“The type of player he is, you look at him as a ten. He’s a goalscorer, you want to get him close to the goal, but he has had good success playing on the right-hand side.
“I think what David [Moyes] has done, and I must admit I was delighted when he went there because what I knew would happen with him was that, particularly with the way David sets up his teams, I knew he would put him into a structure.
“There is a train of thought that Kudus is the type of player that you want to give some relative freedom in the way that he plays. If I’m looking at him at this moment, playing on the right-hand side, I think David has given him as much freedom as he could and he’s still producing.”
A similar style of play
Comparing Hughton’s managerial career in England to that of Moyes, one similarity becomes abundantly clear – they both prefer a rigid and structured style of play. Hughton’s delight when one of his Ghana stars moved to a Moyes team makes plenty of sense.
The school of thought that flair players must be integrated into structured teams to help them learn a more disciplined style of play before later giving them the freedom to express themselves may feel outdated, but evidence has shown it can help in the long run.
Hughton clearly feels this is something Kudus needed to learn, and he is showing so far at West Ham that despite the more disciplined structure under Moyes, he is still able to thrive.
It is not ideal from a West Ham point of view to lose such a key player between January and February for AFCON, but the chance for Kudus to represent his country and shine on the international stage will be a big part of his desires and goals for his career.
In other West Ham news, a Premier League stat has shown how West Ham benefit compared to rival teams.