Is West Ham's Robert Snodgrass the most underrated player?

If it was ever more present then now, you’d be hardpressed to prove it, as Robert Snodgrass is proving undroppable for David Moyes and is supremely underrated at West Ham and in the Premier League.

Putting the team on his back, along with Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass stole the headlines against Brighton this past weekend. Well, that was the case until West Ham collapsed after his, Antonio, and Tomas Soucek‘s subbing off.

This remarkable performance from Snodgrass saw him score a hugely deflected goal in the first half, a slightly less deflected goal in the second half and assisted on the opening goal by Issa Diop from a lovely setpiece delivery.

Starting at rightwing in a 4-3-3 formation, Snodgrass put in a shift in a position that doesn’t necessarily play to his skill set the best. Alongside Michail Antonio at leftwing, and Sebastien Haller at striker, Snodgrass was tasked with patrolling the right side and putting in dangerous crosses to get the best out of his other forwards. Safe to say, he excelled.

His excellence in this game wasn’t with actually ripping dangerous crosses in, though. Instead, Snodgrass was impactful by putting himself in dangerous positions away from the opposition. On his first goal, Snodgrass laid off a ball for Ryan Fredericks to get onto. Instead of standing still, Snodgrass moved into the box and sat at the top of the area, eventually benefitting by getting a free shot away that found the back of the net.

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Likewise, on the second goal he scored, Snodgrass ceded the corner kick to Aaron Cresswell‘s right boot out-swinging delivery. He sat, unmarked, at the top of the far side of the box and was able to step into the scuffed clearance and put his laces through the ball unpressured.

These two goals and assist are just the latest examples of Snodgrass’ excellence this season. He is 32-years-old, he is a Premier League veteran, he’s played in the Championship, and he’s a leader with his work rate this season and years prior.

This season Snodgrass has amassed five goals and four assists which is fairly impressive given his age and the reluctance of former manager Manuel Pellegrini to use him as a starter in the first nine starts where he only started one match. Since his fellow Scot David Moyes took over, Snodgrass has been a regular in the first-team, only coming off the bench just twice in an action-packed January.

For underfire David Moyes the question now comes – how is Snodgrass going to feature in a team with Jarrod Bowen, Michial Antonio, Felipe Anderson, and Sebastien Haller? The answer could be at left-wing or central midfield. Anderson is still out injured so a swap to the left side could see Snodgrass utilize his left-booted delivery more naturally. Another option would be welcomed, too, in the continued benching of Manuel Lanzini in a more central role.

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Regardless, Moyes will have to figure this out and quickly with a tough stretch of opponents lined up to face the Hammers. Snodgrass is a must-start player now, and will have to be prioritized moving forward for the rest of the season!

Is West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass the most underrated Premier League player?

By Adam Smith | Feb 3, 2020

If it was ever more present then now, you’d be hardpressed to prove it, as Robert Snodgrass is proving undroppable for David Moyes and is supremely underrated at West Ham and in the Premier League.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham