There has been a question which I have been pondering over the past few weeks – a question which may be somewhat uncomfortable for those connected with West Ham: Has Enner Valencia provided enough on the pitch since arriving at the club during the summer?
It is not as if the Ecuadorian has done badly exactly. Indeed there have been several moments of brilliance from Valencia in his time at the club; the incredible strike against Hull City and the powerful run and cut back to set up a goal during the Manchester City match are two particular occasions which spring to mind.
Perhaps it is the substantial transfer fee paid for him, as well as a seeming desire to always try and find some sort of fault with the team even when there are so few at this moment in time. Yet I do not believe that Valencia has consistently shown us enough so far to justify that £12million move for his services.
During his short career at Upton Park, Valencia has scored three goals and had two assists in his 13 appearances with West Ham, four of which have been as a substitute. This is not in itself a poor return, but I still think we can expect better, especially when his record is compared to that of Diafra Sakho, who cost a mere £3.5million.
In too many matches Valencia has been on the periphery of proceedings, and it is not always clear exactly what his role in the side is. He doesn’t seem to be comfortable playing as an out-and-out-striker to me, and prefers to drift out to the wing and outside of the penalty area.
Whilst this has been effective at times, the man signed from Pachuca in Mexico doesn’t really look as though he is going to get himself into positions on enough occasions to do what he was signed to do – and that’s to score goals.
Indeed I think that this issue was highlighted in the recent match against Swansea City, where Valencia failed to really connect with his strike partner Andy Carroll during the first half of that game. Yet once Diafra Sakho had replaced Valencia at the break, the Hammers suddenly had a front two who could link up together well, with Sakho always in position to latch onto Carroll’s various knockdowns and flick ons.
As I hinted earlier this criticism may well seem like nit-picking; overall things have been excellent for the club so far this season and the Hammers have posed an attacking threat which supporters could scarcely have dreamt of at the start of the campaign. And Valencia himself has had a few moments of brilliance, which have highlighted his potential to be a great signing for the Hammers.
In my view he now has to turn these glimpses of talent into form on a far more consistent basis. He will certainly have plenty opportunities to play in the near future, what with the heavy Christmas schedule and Diafra Sakho likely to be missing for several weeks in January during the African Cup of Nations. Valencia needs to use those opportunities to really prove his worth to West Ham.
Some players hit the ground running and some take a little more time. He hasn’t done badly it’s just that he had been out shone so far which is a good thing for him as it will give Enner a little more time to get used to the British game.
Give him time, he will come through!
Don’t agree with your article,Valencia has been good,fast,good finisher,we’ve beaten top sides with him in the team.Go back to Carlton cole!!
Rubbish article,Valencia has been good for west ham,good finisher,speed power,good in the air,we’ve beaten top sides with him in the team,good partnership with sakho.Go back to Carlton cole and Maynard!!!
Valencia is obviously a good player but I agree he hasn’t shown it yet. He has shown glimpses and I’m sure he will develop his physical side and vision. Even a 30% fit enner is ten times better than the s##t on the bench like Cole and vaz te. How the hell those two have forged a living from the game is beyond disbelief! Get rid along with Nolan and joey O’Brien and bring in some more quality.
Well I don’t know if you have noticed but since valencia and sakho were playing together we were smashing teams like Manchester City, but ever since Andy Carroll has been playing we have just been able to win against teams like Newcastle and Swansea etc also valencia and sakho have a great link and play amaIng together.
I therefore think this article is stupid
Totally agree James, an “article” for the sake of! He has only played in 13 matches, 4 of which from the bench!!! Maybe the article should read how well he has done and we should praise the heavens the other newbies have excelled at adapting to our game so quickly!
Valencia has played 13games and some people r all ready wondering if he’s worth the 12million, well wat about Andy Carroll? He was bought for between £15-£17million and has done next to nothing, he had 1 good game were he scored two goals and everyone thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread, were in the position we r due to to Valencia-sakho partnership so to question I he worth the £12million is a joke
Give the guy some time to prove himself – both he and Sakho have provided the speed the team has been lacking for some time, having Caroll back is also good for the squad, he adds another dimension to the team, but imo he works best partnered with Sakho or Zarate, Valencia doesn’t seem to feed off him that well, well not yet anyway, and CCole, well hes been a good servant for the club but for all his strength he rarely delivers, hes a great quality championship player but the EPL is just a step too far imo – Song in midfield is the key to our consistency, gives Downing and the front men plenty of opportunity to play to their strengths – and we have to credit all the players for our performances, we’ve had a real mix of players in and out and all have delivered – the only game we have deserved to lose is the Saints when we were outclassed and smashed, any other game we lost we could easily have got something from and the same goes for the draws we could have won – however I will say its time Vaz Te was moved on, he had his time in the championship but he isn’t PL quality, and imo we could also show CCole, Jarvis and Demel the door as they look like they are now surplus, Morrisons poor attitude has outshone his very obvious talent so hes probably off – hopefully we can bring Song and Jenks in permanently, would love to see us add Koponyenka aswell, he could come on a freebie in the summer – we need to tei down Reid and imo Amalfitano is worth a having his one year deal extended – basically we are going to have to clear some off the wages to allow room for others to come in, however the squad is looking very strong right now and could even get better if we can pull off some smart and good business – COYI
The guy has only been here 5 minutes ???? Give him a chance for gods sake.
you need to watch his movement, many of sakhos goals have come from Valencia distracting defenders, he’s been first class, just hasn’t recovered from injury as quick as diafra