Felipe Anderson is running out of time to reignite his Hammers career

After Wednesday night’s win over Chelsea, West Ham United’s next hurdle is an in-form Newcastle side at St James’ Park.

It was in this fixture last season where Felipe Anderson delivered one of his finest moments in a Hammers shirt – a sublime goal to seal off a 3-0 victory in what was a rare win up in Tyneside.

The Brazilian picked the ball up in the Magpie’s half and ran directly at their defence, before brushing off Javier Manquillo and cooly slotting an accurate shot through Martin Dubravka’s legs.

This was when Anderson was starting to show West Ham fans what he was truly capable of – a player who wasn’t afraid to take on a defender, with the ruthlessness in front of goal to match. He was beginning to show why the club paid £36 million for him, in what was, at the time, a record transfer.

Fast-forward to the present day and that version of Anderson is unrecognisable. The man who played with such exuberance and style has gone into hiding for the past season and a half – bar the odd highlight – and is showing no signs of a return any time soon.

After scoring eight goals in his first 18 Premier League games for West Ham, he has since netted just twice in his last 42 appearances. Despite this record, not many would describe the 27-year-old as ‘wasteful’, as in 24 appearances this season, he has managed just 23 shots, which suggests that he is afraid to shoot.

It isn’t just his goal output that concerns fans, however, but perhaps more so his lack of involvement in games whenever he plays. His willingness to run at defenders has disappeared, as he more often tends to turn back and shirk the responsibility from his own shoulders. And while his creative output at the beginning of the season seemed to at least be earning plaudits, that has now also stagnated, with just one assist in his previous 18 matches.

It is evident that Anderson has an abundance of talent that he is just not translating onto the pitch. Whatever the reason for this – whether that be lack of confidence or problems elsewhere – nobody could argue with Hammers’ fans disillusionment towards their once star man.

Ironically, Anderson may not even be available for the trip up to Newcastle on Sunday, as David Moyes confirmed today that he picked up a hamstring injury in the warm-up to the Chelsea game.

With just six games remaining in the season, and with West Ham’s survival hopes still in the balance, time is running out for Anderson to regain the form that once held him in such high regard, not just to Irons fans, but to the rest of the Premier League.