Premier League

Cascarino raves about Lanzini

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Tony Cascarino raved about West Ham playmaker Manuel Lanzini ahead of the Hammers facing Burnley on Saturday.

The talkSPORT pundit claimed that the Hammers have flair players who can make a massive difference on the club’s fortunes, before directly remaking on Lanzini.

Cascarino admitted that he has always liked Lanzini as he is a player who can make things happen and he also proceeded to claim that the attacking midfielder is a real handful for his opponents when on form.

“They make a massive difference,” said Cascarino on talkSPORT (06:39am, Saturday, November 9th).

“Because Lanzini is a real handful when he is on, I’ve always liked Lanzini, I think he is a player who can make things happen.

“And there’s a big question over what has happened to Anderson’s form? It’s really dipped this year.

“They can ill afford to have players doing that.”

OPINION

Even Lanzini’s harshest critic would struggle to argue with Cascarino here, as his verdict hints about the Argentinian’s shortcomings. Cascarino drooled over Lanzini’s ability, but by making clear he is only a handful when he is on form, it suggests that he can be hit and miss. The 26-year-old has proved that he can be a game-changer for the club across his 119 appearances for the Hammers, he has scored 21 goals while registering 20 assists in those outings, but you look at him in the last few games, and you’d be forgiven if you had forgotten he played. In fact, Lanzini’s form has been so disappointing recently, that Manuel Pellegrini has opted to use him from the bench in the club’s two previous league games rather than start him. The playmaker has averaged 1.3 shots per game and two key passes per match, as per WhoScored, across his league outings this season and those stats imply what a difference-maker he can be, the only question is, which Lanzini will turn up to play Burnley?

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