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Xande Silva deserves time over Lucas Perez for West Ham

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: Lucas Perez of West Ham United and Nacho Monreal of Arsenal speak following during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on August 25, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: Lucas Perez of West Ham United and Nacho Monreal of Arsenal speak following during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on August 25, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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West Ham’s 21-year-old striker recruit from the summer transfer window, Xande Silva, had his Premier League debut for West Ham in the 2-0 loss. While the result was disappointing, Silva played 30 minutes and didn’t look out of place for a moment.

This is more than what could be said for Lucas Perez. The former Arsenal striker got back-to-back starts for West Ham with injuries to Marko Arnautovic then Chicharito, and with Michail Antonio needed at right-back. He repaid the decision to start him with two unbelievable misses against Southampton (before Anderson saved the game) and an invisible effort against Burnley.

The 30-year-old striker was brought in as cover for West Ham, who would need more striker options as the team shifted to a dual-striker system. With the team now having injuries to their first choice strikers, it’s been made clear that Perez cannot be trusted as a starter.

With striker options thin, Xande Silva got the call up from the U23 team and debuted against Burnley. He replaced Arnautovic and ran non-stop for the final 30 minutes of the match, something needed by the team for the entire 90 minutes.

Silva had one chance, a shot from the top of the box which narrowly missed the top corner after a deflection. In one opportunity Silva looks more hungry, threatening, and quicker than Perez has in all of his appearances, including the two-goal performance against Cardiff.

If West Ham want to cut their massive expenditure, or rather invest it in positions of need elsewhere in the team, the time is nigh to give Xande Silva opportunities to show what he can do at the Premier League level. Found money is easy to gamble with and with Silva costing just £3.1 million, there is no downside to giving the kid an opportunity to succeed and save the team some transfer money.

With Brighton coming to the London Stadium and an FA Cup match against Birmingham up next, Silva will likely be in both teams and should see some quality minutes.

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Perez has not taken his chances and Silva can learn from this. Ask West Ham supporters, if you don’t score but run your legs off and constantly give 100% effort you’ll be applauded by Hammers supporters. The bar set by Perez isn’t high and Silva has all the natural talent to usurp him as the heir to the striker throne should injuries creep back into the first team.