WHZ View: West Ham flop Anderson might as well have gone with Pellegrini
It’s easy to summarise Manuel Pellegrini’s time at West Ham by revisiting the signings of Felipe Anderson and Sebastian Haller for a combined £80million.
The former boss spent tens of millions on the duo, as well as others, who ultimately flopped and cost him his job. Since David Moyes’ return, he has set about shifting all the dead weight and steering the club in a new direction.
In 16 months, and after a complete overhaul, the process is almost finalised. There’s one last piece of business Moyes must deal with this summer – the sale of Anderson.
The Brazilian winger arrived from Lazio in July 2018, and was labelled one of the ‘most exciting talents in Europe’. In hindsight, 34 goals in 177 games in Italy does suggest otherwise.
In fairness, he had an okay first season. His 36 Premier League appearances brought nine goals and four assists as West Ham finished in the top ten. It’s the second season which was the issue.
Pellegrini was sacked in December, and Anderson may as well have gone with him. Moyes gave the Brazilian four matches to prove himself but it was to no avail. He played just 103 minutes after February.
Moyes sent him out on loan to Porto in the summer to try and kickstart his career. It hasn’t entirely worked out for him there, either.
The 27-year-old has featured just nine times for the Dragons since his loan switch in the summer of 2020. Anderson has played just nine times for Porto. In that time, he’s registered zero goals and assists [WyScout].
He has completed 90 minutes on one occasion, Porto’s 2-1 league cup loss to Sporting Lisbon in January. In his nine matches, he has been successful with none of his crosses – for a winger, this is just criminal.
His woeful form causes huge issues for West Ham. Still with a year left of his £85,000-per-week contract [Spotrac], what are we to do with him?
Anderson simply doesn’t fit in with the philosophy of the club anymore. West Ham were once a side who would rely on nine workmen, a solid goalkeeper and one maverick to run the show. After all, Anderson was supposed to be the man to replace Payet.
Times have changed at the club. Moyes only wants players in his XI who are going to work hard in attack and defence. It’s seen a complete change in fortune for us this season as we push for the top six, even the top four.
We simply have to sell him this summer if we want to recuperate any of the £36million that was spent on him. Lazio must’ve been rubbing their hands with delight. After his last two seasons, is anyone really going to want him?
Whatever the final call is, he has to go. There isn’t room for him at West Ham anymore, and as it appears his form has been the same in Portugal, maybe it isn’t the club who are the problem.
In other West Ham news, the club doesn’t ‘have the minerals’ to qualify for the top four this season, says this talkSPORT presenter.