Credit: Imago

Samuel Fabre

Sun 22 March 2026 17:04, UK

West Ham United‘s Freddie Potts can’t be considered to start in any future games by Nuno Espirito Santo this season after a dreadful display in the 2-0 away loss to Aston Villa on Sunday.

It only took 15 minutes for the Villans to strike first, with John McGinn hitting a brilliant strike past Mads Hermansen.

Ollie Watkins made it 2-0 in the second half after the Danish goalkeeper spilled a shot into his path, which left the Hammers with a mountain to climb.

Although Pablo and Jarrod Bowen had half-chances, West Ham couldn’t find a way to break down Unai Emery’s side.

West Ham’s loss to Aston Villa was damaging to their survival hopes, and it’s safe to say that Potts’ performance was far from good enough.

Freddie Potts completely out of his depth vs Aston Villa

Having been initially named on the bench, Potts came into the side to replace Jean-Clair Todibo, who suffered an injury in the warm-up.

However, this was clearly the wrong move, as West Ham were overwhelmed by Villa’s attacking play.

According to Sofascore, Potts won zero per cent of his ground duels and his aerial duels before being taken off at half-time.

Although he completed all 24 of his attempted passes, he failed to make a tackle or a block as the Hammers struggled to deal with the hosts in the middle.

Of course, Nuno didn’t plan for Potts to start, and he didn’t envisage his side playing in a 4-3-2-1 formation instead of a 3-4-2-1.

However, the Sofascore stats below show that he can’t count on Potts for the foreseeable future, especially as the games become more and more intense.

That doesn’t take away from the 22-year-old’s potential, and he does have a bright future ahead.

Potts will be ready to start for West Ham in the future – but not right now

Potts has been impressive for West Ham at times this season, breaking into the first team and becoming a key part of their midfield under Nuno.

Loan spells at Wycombe and Portsmouth over the past two years have fast-tracked his development massively.

In the Championship last season, Potts created 33 chances and completed 980 successful passes, showcasing his quality on the ball.

However, there have been several moments where Potts has looked out of his depth, and his first-half performance against Villa was one of his worst

At just 22 years old, he has a lot of room to grow, and he needs some of the senior players in the squad to exert leadership and help him during tough moments.

Once that happens, the academy graduate can be a top player for the Hammers in the years to come.