Lanzini v Payet: 5 Areas Of Comparison Over Two Seasons

Over the past two seasons West Ham have been lucky to see two flair based players take centre stage. Obviously the manner of departure of Payet left a lot to be desired, but what he did at the club cannot be denied.

Lanzini stuggled at the start of the season, as did most of the West Ham side, but since the depature of Payet he has stepped up into the role of main creator. As such many a comparison has been drawn between the two.

Obviously they are at different stage in their careers, so we take that into account. It’s also important to note that the whole side played better last season, and that has an impact. Especially as we take a look at Lanzini from this season against Payet’s first season in East London. All stats are from Squawka’s comparison matrix tool.

Chance Creation

Dimitri Payet won much praise from fans and pundits alike in this area of his game. The Frenchman has a wonderful eye for a pass and can create chances from all over the pitch. In fact, Payet has still created more chances this season than Ozil has. Despite leaving in January…

As such it’s no surprise to me, and perhaps everyone else, that Payet outdoes Lanzini here. Whilst Lanzini has done better as the season has gone on, he doesn’t quite have the range of passing that Payet does in his locker. Last season Payet created 4 chances per game, whereas Lanzini averages in at below two.

However Lanzini does take more care to retain the ball when in possession. His pass completion rate nears 90%, whereas Payet was only just above 80. This shows the risks Payet took in the pass, and goes some way to explaining the difference in their chance creation stats.

Payet goes 1-0 up, can Lanzini bounce back?