David Moyes leaves West Ham United fans frustrated with Nikola Vlasic treatment
By Anthony Onifade.
West Ham United fans have been left “quite frustrated” that Nikola Vlasic wasn’t given many first team opportunities by David Moyes, according to journalist Dharmesh Sheth.
The Croatian forward represented a huge outlay when he joined the Hammers in August 2021, costing the club an initial £25.7million, with £7.7million in add-ons [Sky].
However, the 25-year-old found first-team opportunities hard to come by in his first campaign, making just six Premier League starts last season, scoring just the one goal.
As a result, Vlasic was shipped out on loan to Serie A side Torino this summer with his long-term future at East London in serious doubt.
Sheth believes that the West Ham faithful have been frustrated by the lack of opportunities given by David Moyes, speaking to GiveMeSport, he said: “David Moyes did buy him, they bought him for big money, but he just has not been given the opportunity.
“I think some West Ham fans have been quite frustrated that he hasn’t been given that run in the team, but sometimes it just doesn’t work.”
More patience given?
Considering the huge gap in quality between the Russian Premier Liga, and the English Barclays Premier League, more patience should have been handed to Vlasic during his time at the London Stadium.
It was quite clear that the 25-year-old would have struggled to acclimatise himself to the rigours of the division and a new environment in London so quickly.
The Hammers spent over £30million on the Croatian forward, which should have automatically provided him with the patience and room to adjust to his new surroundings and teammates.
Also, West Ham fans can be forgiven for their frustrations, in that Vlasic only made six league starts last term, meaning he wasn’t given the opportunity to make an impression or gather any sort of understanding of Moyes’ tactical demands.
It certainly begs the question of whether the player could well have been useful this campaign rather than being shipped on loan to Torino where he is actually finding his feet.
The winger has so far bagged four Serie A goals and two assists in 15 games, proving that he has indeed got what it takes to cut it at the top level. Vlasic could certainly be deemed as the one that got away for Moyes if the Croatian isn’t included in his future plans.