Danny Murphy wowed by what he saw from Mohammed Kudus in West Ham draw v Newcastle United
Danny Murphy was wowed by Mohammed Kudus’ decision-making prior to scoring the equaliser for West Ham in their 2-2 draw against Newcastle United on Sunday (8 October).
Alexander Isak’s quickfire second-half double had cancelled out Tomas Soucek’s eighth-minute opener at the London Stadium but Kudus struck in the last minute of normal time to salvage a point.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 (8 October, iPlayer 51:15), Murphy was impressed with the way Kudus held his run rather than continuing into the box.
“This bit here I think he deliberately waits, he can see everyone dropping back, it’s a lovely little touch and a great finish,” he said.
“And when you’re only on the pitch for that amount of time, to make the impact he did – look for players like him it’s all about end product. £34.8million from Ajax, he’s going to be a big player.”
Closing in on a start
The Hammers and David Moyes were extremely busy in the summer transfer window, boosted by the cash injection provided by Declan Rice’s £105million sale to London rivals Arsenal.
The jewel in the crown of their transfer business was undoubtedly Ghana forward Kudus, though, and the Hammers fans will be clamouring to see him utilised much more regularly after a star turn here.
Moyes has thus far used Kudus sparingly, playing him mainly in the EFL Cup and Europa League. This was his first Premier League goal and you feel like there are plenty more to come.
West Ham do have a lot of exciting attacking players now but Kudus looks like a player who could genuinely help the Hammers get to the next level. Implementing him slowly is a fair tactic but now feels like the time to properly unleash him. Let’s see if more opportunities are afforded to him in the coming weeks.
In other West Ham news, here are three things we learned from the Newcastle clash.