Flynn Downes shocked to hear what West Ham United fans have been saying about him
Flynn Downes was amazed to hear that West Ham fans want him to keep his place in the team after his performance against Anderlecht.
The summer signing was handed a rare start for the Europa Conference League match on Thursday night (6 October), which was eventually won 1-0 via a late Gianluca Scamacca goal, but has only seen a tiny bit of action in the Premier League on the opening weekend.
With Tomas Soucek struggling for form as much as anyone in the team during a difficult overall start to the season there have been growing murmurs that the former Swansea City man should be given a chance, and he did his prospects no harm at all with a solid showing across 90 minutes in Belgium.
Asked about the fact that fans want him to keep his place after the game he said, via The Athletic: “Really? That’s unbelievable — better than them saying ‘don’t start me’, isn’t it! I’ll take it.
“We’ve got players who are playing well and we’re coming off a 2-0 win [against Wolves], so what can you expect? I’m not worried about that. If I touch the pitch, I’ll give my all for West Ham.”
Modest
It’s not just his accent that makes him sound like the man he was brought in to replace, Hammers legend Mark Noble, but the attitude he brings also emulates Mr West Ham.
David Moyes often seems set in his ways when it comes to team selection, which may be part of the reason why an influx of new arrivals have upset the balance somewhat.
And Downes can count himself unlucky to have been repeatedly left out in the top flight despite both Soucek, and even captain Declan Rice, being off colour.
The 23-year-old wasn’t flawless by any means on Thursday night, but he covered plenty of ground and pressed the opposition well, while being composed on the ball and helping to build a number of attacks.
It was the kind of display, away from home against the nominal hardest opponent in the group, that should have caught his manager’s eye.
If Downes doesn’t get a look in against Fulham on Sunday (9 October) then questions will have to be asked, and the fans that are hoping for him to keep his place are likely to make themselves heard.