Craig Bellamy heaped praise on West Ham attacker Felipe Anderson after watching the Brazilian score twice in the 2-1 win over Southampton on Thursday.
The Sky Sports pundit shared that he thought the 25-year-old winger was an outstanding footballer and claimed the Saints should acted quicker to close him down when he was perched outside the box ahead of scoring his first goal of the game.
“This player, he is an outstanding footballer and I’ve got to be honest first half he was quiet but in the second half he was outstanding,” said Bellamy on Sky Sports’ Premier League (Thursday December 27th, 21:46).
“I don’t think Southampton (when speaking on Anderson’s first goal)…I mean he is a difficult player to get close to as he is an outstanding footballer but this typified Southampton for me as they didn’t quite get up to players and with this player outside the box you have to get close to him, it’s a terrific finish.
“You’d like to think he had it covered (Saints keeper) to get it up and over into the top corner but still a lot of credit to Anderson as he was brilliant second half.”
After scoring a brace against the Saints, Anderson has now scored eight goals and registered three assists for the Hammers since joining from Lazio in the summer.
OPINION
Anderson deserves all the praise he can get after effectively guiding the Hammers to another win in the Premier League on Thursday. The 25-year-old was worryingly quiet in the first 45 minutes of the match but as soon as the second half got underway he sprung into life determined to make a difference. While Bellamy criticises Southampton’s defending for Anderson’s first goal, it’s harsh to be too critical of them. There are few players able to finish like Anderson can from outside the box in the Premier League and they would have been taken by surprise that he scored in the way they did. The 25-year-old clearly is capable of helping the Hammers have a bright future in the coming season as he is able to provide some magic at the drop of a hat. If Anderson can keep this form going all season long, then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him linked with some top sides in the near future.
