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Murphy remarks on Anderson show his problems

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OPINION

Danny Murphy inadvertently pinpointed what is holding West Ham attacker Felipe Anderson from being at his best for the club by referring to his price tag.

The pundit, often seen on BBC’s Match of the Day, waxed lyrical about the Brazilian winger’s performance during the 4-2 win over Burnley but couldn’t help but point out the expectations that surrounded him after his big money arrival.

“In Felipe Anderson they’ve got a hell of a player now, he hasn’t quite hit the heights that people thought he might in the very early part of the season when the fee, obviously he didn’t have much say in that,” said Murphy on talkSPORT (Monday November 5, 12:19).

“But it was a lot of money for a player that a lot of people didn’t know much about.

“He looks fit, he can go past players and he is now scoring and making goals, just got real talent.”

Anderson cost the Hammers a staggering £36million (Source: BBC Sport) in the summer and with that everyone have expectations about how good he should be.

Due to this fans, pundits and everyone in between has put Anderson’s performance under a microscope this season and it’s no surprise that at times he has crumbled under the pressure.

Anderson struggled against Leicester City as well as Tottenham in the league in recent weeks and it’s clear that the pressure of being relied upon, due to expectations, was perhaps too much to bare.

Given that those performances were so bad that supporters weren’t expecting much from him against Burnley, it seem to act in his favour as the pressure had been lifted.

No longer was he believed to be on the verge of being a match-winner as he had been written off to some degree and this saw him raise his game against Burnley and put in his best performance for the club.

It’s clear that Anderson flourishes when flying under the radar and given that he is one of the Hammers’ main stars, especially given the club’s injury problem, it’s holding him back.

It will be a difficult issue for Manuel Pellegrini to address as it’s a mentality thing but steps must be taken to try and fix it.

As when Anderson is at his best, then he is able to tear teams apart just like he did against Burnley on Saturday.

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