Garth Crooks raved about West Ham attacker Sebastien Haller after his display in the 3-1 win over Watford and opted to name the forward in his Team of the Week.
The BBC pundit claimed that the 25-year-old Frenchman robbed Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster of a place in his TOTW as he stole the applause by scoring twice.
Crooks then shared that he thought Haller wasn’t a West Ham player in a ‘traditional’ sense as he didn’t remind him of Bryan Robson or Frank McAvennie, but did point out if he was half as good then he’ll be an enormous hit with fans.
“Watford were so bad in defence that goalkeeper Ben Foster was entitled to be furious. West Ham could have had six if it hadn’t been for Foster,” said Crooks in his column for BBC Sport.
“However, Sebastien Haller stole the applause and robbed the former England international of claiming his first TOTW selection of the season by scoring twice. Haller is not what I would call a West Ham player in the traditional sense. There is nothing of the Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson or the Frank McAvennie about him but more of the David Cross.
“Haller will know little or nothing about those former West Ham goalscoring giants, but trust me, if he does half as well as any of those he will be an enormous hit with the fans.”
OPINION
While Crooks is quick to point out that Haller is not the same mould as previous Hammers attackers Robson or McAvennie, he did say that he was more like David Cross. Cross scored 78 goals in 179 appearances for the Hammers during the late 70s and early 80s, and if the Frenchman can rack up as many appearances and goals as him, then he will write himself into the club’s history. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Haller wowed against Watford by being ice-cold in front of goal, and hopefully, that display wasn’t a one-off. The 25-year-old averaged a rating of 9.04 against the Hornets on WhoScored as not only did he score twice, but he won a staggering seven of his aerial duels. Haller also saw three of his four shots hit the target, to prove how lethal he can be, and the only long ball forward he attempted perfectly found its mark. The Hammers look like they have got some player in the form of Haller, but the proof is in the pudding and hopefully this isn’t the last time he makes Crook’s Team of the Week this season.
