Can Felipe Anderson swing the London derby West Ham’s way?
With West Ham hosting their first London derby of the season, they need their big names to perform. Felipe Anderson has a double task on his hands for the match as well.
When big teams come to the London stadium it’s always a decent atmosphere. For a game or two the complaints of a new stadium and lack of atmosphere disappear, and the fans get involved. So West Ham fans want their big players to perform, and with the Hammers spending big on Anderson over the summer, this is when we want him to show his worth.
Anderson has received criticism from the fans in the past few weeks for not tracking back and tackling, something we put to bed in a recent article. But against one of the best right backs in the league, Kieran Trippier, he will have a lot to deal with. His attacks will need to be incisive, but he will also need to cover whoever plays at left back
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With Masuaku likely injured for the match, Cresswell is probably going to get a game. Although he got more assists than any other defender in the Premier League last season, his defending left a lot to be desired. With Trippier looking to get forward and assist the potent strikeforce that Spurs have. Do I think Cresswell has enough to fend off attacks on his own? No.
However Anderson has made more tackles than any other attacker in the Premier League. His pace makes it possible for him to get up and down, and one of the best things he could do against Spurs is keep Trippier pinned back. If Anderson continuously pushes, keeps the ball and acts as a danger to the opposition he can really give the Hammers a pause from defending continuously. If we want a result that isn’t a big defeat, we can’t rely on keeping a clean sheet and nicking a goal.
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What I would want to see from him is more shots on goal. He has a good long shot but right now he is looking to get others on the ball more than acting as a danger himself. If that’s the case he will never be the considered a top tier winger in the Premier League. But he has everything going for him, and I’d love to see the Brazilian prove it against our biggest rivals and show the Hammers are a team that that need to be watched this season.