The last few weeks has seen some rather mediocre performances from West Ham’s Brazilian winger Felipe Anderson. So what does Anderson need to do to prove his doubters wrong and enjoy another positive season with the Hammers?
Anderson has not scored this season which may well be the source of many of the fans’ frustrations, on top of this, the Brazilian has been wasteful in possession and has often lacked the final ball when in threatening positions in the final third.
Many West Ham fans expect a Dimitri Payet level of player as a result of the £40 million that was spent on Anderson in the Summer of 2018 and he has certainly shown glimpses of being this caliber of player with world-class performances against Southampton Away in December 2018 and Man United at Home in September 2018.
Anderson chipped in with 10 goals and 4 assists last season which is a very positive return, he also helped out a lot defensively completing 89 tackles which was the 10th best in the Premier League. Many fans don’t seem to recognize the defensive aspect of Anderson’s game but he is a huge asset in this sense, especially when Arthur Masuaku is playing left-back.
This season, Anderson has already got 3 assists which is very positive, however, he hasn’t scored yet and has certainly been wasteful in possession at times. Anderson has also been seen in many different positions during the course of games, he sometimes changes wings which is fine as it confuses the full-back.
However, Anderson looks to at times be playing very deep (almost as a ‘number 6’) and attempting to thread the ball through to the likes of Yarmolenko and Haller. This positioning and concentration on slowing the attack down has limited his game and brought out his flaws. Surely he would be more successful playing this ‘dictator’ role on the wing every time meaning he can cut in and contribute himself as well as being a mercurial passer who starts attacks.
It also looks as if Anderson has lost some of his confidence when beating a man. We are used to seeing him skin the full-back due to his blistering pace but have recently seen him dawdle on the ball and be hesitant in possession.
So what does he need to do?
We have recently seen Andriy Yarmolenko come to life on the right-wing, He’s done so by staying forward and has an excellent partnership with the pacy Ryan Fredericks who is fond of the overlapping run. Anderson’s partnership with Cresswell is sometimes a bit muddled; against Palace, they often got in each other’s way and weren’t as successful as Yarmolenko and Fredericks. Therefore Arthur Masuaku should come back into the team as soon as possible. He has a decent partnership with Anderson and they are both attacking threats.
A goal would dramatically boost Anderson’s confidence and would lead to him being more confident in possession and potentially boosting his performances moving forward. It is clear that it’s not just a lack of goals that are his problem though, his final ball needs to improve.
Haller is a huge presence in the box and Masuaku and Fredericks have made the most of this by laying on assists from the touchline for him against Norwich and Palace, Anderson should look to feed Haller more instead of going back to Lanzini or Rice.
The Brazilian should also look to stay closer to Haller as the Frenchman often lays the ball off well but there is no one around him, Anderson moving closer to him would mean that West Ham could catch teams on the break more.
Finally, Anderson should go for goal more himself. We’ve seen how deadly he can be from outside the box so he should try and go for goal more often to ignite the offense. He could also try cutting in, Yarmolenko-style, to find the perfect pass this way, or getting a shot off on his own.