Felipe Anderson has come under attack from a lot of West Ham fans for his perceived poor start. But we need to give our record signing time to settle.
West Ham have broken their transfer record this season and the last. Both times we have signed attacking players who have been labelled a risk, but have potential on their day. Both times we have slammed the signing only weeks into the season, with no time to adjust. Can Anderson show that, like Arnautovic, he is worth the time, effort and money that was spent bringing him to the club?
It was two years ago, almost to the day that Arnautovic got sent off against Southampton, in a game we lost 3-2. As such the Austrian got much of the blame, and many people were saying we should not have bought him. However he came back to finish as our top scorer and Hammer of the Year. Whilst I can’t promise the same thing for Anderson, we have to give him a chance.
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No choice on transfer fee
There have been people on social media shouting that he must be dropped because he’s not good enough, that he will never produce in the Premier League. However we have moved this man to a new country, a new team who speak a language he doesn’t. And all I’ve seen so far from him is him trying to adapt. Just because we paid nearly 40m for him doesn’t change that its a big move. It just means we really wanted him.
I think that judging players so soon by their transfer fee is tough. If you’d asked me after 2 or 3 games early on whether Arnautovic was worth 20m then I would have probably said no. Now and I think we have underpaid Stoke by about 10m, because he seems to be the best creative player we have on the pitch. Things can take time, and the players didn’t demand their fee, the clubs negotiated that.
Anderson will show that he can perform in the Premier League, but the fans can’t get on his back. He needs to focus on getting into sync with the side, adapting to London and playing his best, which will not be sped up by people who struggle to speak another language even when on holiday shouting insults at him from the stands. He could be a top player, but different people take different amounts of time to get there.