OPINION
West Ham youngster Nathan Holland must kick open the door to the first-team as soon as possible in order to give Felipe Anderson a much needed wake-up call.
The 20-year-old left-sided winger has blistering pace, which West Ham academy director Terry Westley previously drooled over in an interview with The Sun, and could really be a force to be reckoned with if unleashed into Manuel Pellegrini’s first-team.
Holland has recently returned to training, as reported by Football.London, after an ankle injury and should be pushing for an opportunity in the first-team as soon as possible.
The Hammers speed demon has previously made only one brief appearance for the senior side when he played 28 minutes against Bolton in the EFL Cup last season.
However given the winger’s pace, tricky ability and the potential he has shown during his appearances for the U-23’s side, then he is worth taking a chance on, especially due to the form on Anderson.
The 25-year-old left-winger cruised to a lacklustre display during the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday and it wasn’t the first time this season that he wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
Anderson has shown glimpse of his fantastic talent while at the Hammers but his form is inconsistent, and you feel like if he had someone breathing down his neck threatening his place in the first-team that his performances wouldn’t dropped so dramatically.
At the moment Anderson probably doesn’t feel under too much pressure regarding his first-team status, hence why he then ends up being stuck in third gear during some of his outings.
Yet if Holland emerged on the first-team seen and showcased all the skills he has in his locker then the Brazilian attacker would not only be caught by surprised but would be forced to not rest of his laurels.
Therefore now that the 20-year-old speedster is fit again, he must find a way to grab Pellegrini’s attention in order to get a first-team opportunity, which is turn would hand the coasting Anderson a much needed wake-up call.
