Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Ryan Fredericks should still be West Ham’s starting RB

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Ryan Fredericks of West Ham United speaks to referee Kevin Friend during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool FC at London Stadium on February 04, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Ryan Fredericks of West Ham United speaks to referee Kevin Friend during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool FC at London Stadium on February 04, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With matchups against Sadio Mane and Wilfred Zaha in his past two starts, Ryan Fredericks has performed extremely well in his debut Premier League season. Despite a second-half goal from Zaha, Fredericks still needs to be West Ham’s starting right-back.

There were two mistakes that Ryan Fredericks in the game against Crystal Palace. That’s it, just two in his second game back from a long-term injury. The aspect that frustrates West Ham supporters is that one of those eventually led to the tieing goal against coming from Wilfred Zaha.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

But let me stress again, in his first season in the Premier League, Ryan Fredericks has rebounded extremely well in his past two games, against elite attacking opposition, and shouldn’t be punished for learning and growing.

The first mistake was playing Palace’s midfielder James McArthur onside. What resulted was a comical miss from McArthur who outwaited Fabianski but somehow shot wide left and hit the side of the goal. Fredericks was bailed out on this occasion. Frederick’s got lost in the high-line that his Iron’s teammates have drilled down in his absence.

The second mistake resulted in Zaha’s goal. Fredericks struggles a bit with West Ham’s high-line defending and in an attempt to stay tight to his centre-backs and allow Robert Snodgrass to get involved in coverage, Fredericks gave Zaha way too much space, allowing him to run into West Ham’s 18-yard box and eventually put home a deflected shot.

These mistakes highlight two areas that Fredericks needs to work on in the two-week hiatus from Premier League action. 1) Keeping the high-line offside trap with his other defenders, 2) defining coverage with his midfielders/wingers through better communication.

The high-line will come with more training and experience, as well as Fabian Balbuena returning to the centre-back duo as the de facto defensive leader. The positional coverage will come with more training and focus on communication with his wingers/midfielders; Fredericks should always be taking the forward on those types of plays.

Why West Ham should continue to invest in Fredericks as a starter is fairly simple – Pablo Zabaleta’s future is up in the air. He’s currently 34-years-old and with a team option on his expiring contract, would likely only be down to play one more year maximum. Fredericks is the heir apparent and has a lot to learn from his predecessor.

Next. What should West Ham’s objectives for the rest of the season?. dark

Fredericks is the future of the Hammers right-back position and should be encouraged to learn from the mistakes he’s making in an effort to eradicate them from his game, rather than punished by losing his spot in the starting XI. Fredericks is showing a lot more good than bad right now and with Pellegrini guiding him, I have faith that he’ll shape into the defensively solid and threatening right-back he has the potential to become.