BBC pundit Don Hutchinson has delivered a mixed bag of a verdict on Hammers playmaker Felipe Anderson.
The 25-year-old made a big impact at the London Stadium after his arrival from Lazio last summer, however, his influence has waned as the season’s gone on.
Hutchinson shared that at times Anderson was so inconsistent that he looked like the worst signing he had ever seen at times, but then sometimes you had to think “what a player”.
Hutchinson weighed in on Monday: “I said when they signed him from Lazio he could potentially be West Ham’s best ever signing, then a week later you’ll say ‘he’s the worst signing I’ve ever seen’ – and he does that in 90 minutes,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live [08/04; 20:39].
“He can get on the ball and he can try his tricks, but when he’s on you think what a player. 39 minutes into the game [Chelsea v West Ham] and he’s hardly touched the ball and when he’s had it he’s given it away too easily,” he finished.
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with anything Hutchinson says, here. Anderson has simultaneously been one of the most exciting and frustrating elements of this West Ham team this season. Early on he was superb, scoring and creating in equal measure and producing some wonderful individual performances. Since the turn of the year, though, the Brazilian has been pretty poor overall and that continued against Chelsea on Monday night. He gives the ball away far too often and he’s nowhere near as influential at the moment as he was earlier in the campaign. His inconsistency is essentially what bothers Hutchinson and it’s no wonder. The former Lazio man has world class skills and he is capable of brilliance, but he goes missing all too often. It’s so frustrating when someone is incredibly talented and anonymous in equal measure. Hopefully we can chalk this down to it being the player’s debut season in English football and look forward to improved consistency from him next time out.
