OPINION
West Ham United’s positive start to the season has definitely seen some problems go under-the-radar.
Players such as Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini have excelled in the final third, and club-record signing Sebastien Haller has found the back of the net on four separate occasions.
The success of those three Hammers’ stars has seen some of their underperforming players escape criticism, with the likes of Pablo Fornals failing to make much of an impact.
Fornals arrived from Villareal in the summer and came on to the scene at the London Stadium on the back of a successful under-21’s European Championship campaign which saw Spain lift the trophy.
That hasn’t quite translated yet, and his form from the summer has yet to follow him to East London, as the 23-year-old has struggled to earn consistent minutes.
Fornals has started three games in the Premier League, and his other five appearances have come from the bench under Manuel Pellegrini.
The Spaniard has only averaged a single shot on goal per game according to WhoScored, as well as 0.6 key passes – stats that aren’t good enough if he wants to start making more of an impact.
Whilst Fornals is struggling, Grady Diangana is continuing to shine whilst on loan at West Brom in the Championship – something that is surely set to catch the eye of Pellegrini sooner rather than later.
The young English winger has been involved in seven goals in his nine appearances for the Baggies and has been a constant threat under the management of Slaven Bilic.
Diangana has averaged 1.8 shots and key passes per game according to WhoScored and has also completed 2.6 dribbles, as he continues to look more of a threat than Fornals has this season.
Should the 21-year-old continue to look dangerous in the final third this season, and Fornals continues to struggle, then Pellegrini could surely start to regret his decision to sanction the temporary exit of the exciting talent.
