BBC pundit Garth Crooks was mightily impressed by the display of West Ham midfielder Felipe Anderson after the 4-2 win over Burnley on Saturday.
The Brazilian contributed a brace to the scoreline along with goals from Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, and according to the well-known pundit, it was Anderson who really stood out to him due to his “impressive” ability in front of goal.
Crooks also raved about how the Hammers star is just as impressive with his capabilities on the ball, whilst adding that this was a significant win for the team as they “can’t be losing games at home to Burnley”.
“West Ham were beginning to make hard work of this game at London Stadium. Fortunately for the Hammers, Burnley seemed to make life considerably more difficult for themselves, much to the delight of Felipe Anderson,” he told BBC Sport.
“The Brazilian has looked impressive on the ball this season, however, against Burnley he looked just as impressive in front of goal.
“This was an important win for West Ham. They can’t be losing home games to Burnley.”
OPINION
Crooks is right to heap praise on Anderson in the way that he has here – the midfielder has only gone and proved his doubters wrong, much to their disbelief. He looked a shadow of the player that he has been so far this season, and certainly a shadow of the one that looked practically invisible during the 3-1 loss to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday. One thing is for sure, he definitely justified his £40 million price tag to the fans, who were no doubt beginning to think the club had thrown money down the drain. All West Ham need him to do now is maintain this form, the last thing they want is for this display to be a fluke – however, that does not seem likely to happen any time soon, as the penny looks to have finally dropped for Anderson. He may have found it hard to adjust to life in the top flight to begin with, but he is evidently now taking it in his stride.
