The third member of Palmeiras’ diamond trinity has secured his big European move. O menino está se tornando o homem.
18-year-old Luis Guilherme had barely stepped foot into a senior match before a host of big clubs in Europe were on red alert, and had it not been for Endrick’s come-up, Guilherme likely would have stood out even more.
He comes as the third sale in a record-breaking summer for Palmeiras. With Endrick off to Real Madrid and Estevao off to Chelsea, it was only a matter of time before attention switched to Guilherme – and in a world full of surprises, West Ham United have ended up being the proactive ones.
Guilherme was born in Aracaju, the urban capital of state Sergipe in north-east Brazil. He grew up in a huge footballing environment; playing in numerous football schools in one of the world’s biggest footballing nations.
At age 11, in the same year Neymar joined PSG, Luis was picked up by Palmeiras’ youth. Whilst not the most prolific academy in Brazil, Palmeiras had a knack for securing Brazilian legends; with Rivaldo and Cafu studding their past, any inspiration for a young kid coming through was not short-lived.
That young kid coming through leaves Brazil as part of the Brazilian national team’s u20s, with a season of numerous senior appearances under his belt.
Next on his short but eventful journey so far, Luis will be wearing claret and blue, as Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui bring him over to East London. How will he fit, and what can we expect?
In researching West Ham’s new talent, I spoke to loyal Palmeiras fan and famous Brazilian chef Dan Galhardo, alongside Brazilian-based scout known on X as SelecaoTalk to understand the deep depths of what we are really dealing with.
Upon first watch, the noticeable attribute that stands out most is Guilherme’s speed. He is not exactly renowned for passing his man with a rainbow flick – rather backing himself to beat almost any defender in a foot race. That being said, he does possess some attributes that lie beneath what you see in the highlight reels and statistics.
What are Guilherme’s main attributes?
Galhardo: “He is extremely fast – if he puts the ball past you, you cannot stop him. Despite his goal tally his mid-range shooting in particular is pretty good, and he’s much stronger physically than he looks. I would not be too concerned about him adjusting to the PL.”
SelecaoTalk: “He is a really good dribbler, pretty quick, good strike on him. Attacks central space well, very athletic.”
The most surprising common denominator amongst the responses appears to be that Guilherme, despite having just the one senior goal, is that he has good shooting. Therefore…
Despite a fair amount of appearances, why does Guilherme not actually have many goals for Palmeiras?
Galhardo: “His “problem” has been highlighted by our manager, always said in conferences. He likes to play as an attacking midfielder, cutting into the Left. In this position, we already have Raphael Veiga, Endrick sometimes played in this position, and Estevão too. As he is a great player, Abel Ferreira selected him to play as RWB in 30% of his games and it’s insane, he made a line of 5 defenders and Luis played there. In other games, he used to play as a right winger with lots of defensive responsibility, but in youth teams, he’d never played there.
The problem is not the player, but the position he played to help the team. He has only played in his actual position about 4 times at senior level!”
SelecaoTalk: “Playing style at Palmeiras has been pretty bland/unexciting. Many of their goals come from crosses and set pieces, and not to mention Guilherme’s lack of minutes in general. I think he’s only played about 13 full 90’s or something out of his 40 appearances. Inconsistent minutes.”
Galhardo also highlighted how despite the inconsistency of his minutes, he is still considered an extremely special talent over in Brazil.
“Endrick, Estevão, and Guilherme for us Palmeiras fans are our diamonds. Endrick and Luis have played together since they were 11 years old, and they always won the youth leagues and championships together. They are the same age, and a long-lasting partnership. Estevão is slightly younger than them, and he and Luis only played together in the last match against San Lorenzo. It was the first and last time we saw them both playing together.”
How will Luis Guilherme fit into Julen Lopetegui’s side?
Julen Lopetegui’s standard 4-3-3 leaves the Spaniard with a huge dilemma on his attacking options. With Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paquetá (subject to the verdict of his spot fixing case), James Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen, and now Luis Guilherme all fighting for similar positions.
Tim Steidten sees Guilherme as still a “promising natural wide player,” whilst Galhardo also sees Guilherme potentially fitting in on the left hand side despite his fruitful youth career as a number 10. SelecaoTalk has faith in Guilherme being a success, after a “brilliant start to professional football. He can definitely reach Brazilian national team level with his numbers.”
Of course, on the flip side, Guilherme will still need time to adapt. Perhaps Paquetá and Kudus may not be here in a year’s time, and that is when Guilherme gains an opportunity to step up in a more central position.
As Galhardo said to me: “Trust me, next season he might need some time to adapt to the league. But in the next? You will begin to see a star being born.”
The seemingly devastating mental toll that conceding a goal takes on West Ham is astonishing.
It is becoming insulting. Money, time, dedication all thrown into West Ham from the fans; half-heartedness, capitulation and a shrug back.
The strangest thing above all is West Ham actually know how to do it. We see it in glimpses, and the first half was an excellent example of that. The ball was moved quickly, Mateus Fernandes was constantly freed up, and Malick Diouf was throwing in multiple trademark crosses, creating numerous close chances.
An admittedly questionable disallowed goal from Cristian Romero set the alarm bells ringing regarding corners. After Walker-Peters went to ground in the box, VAR decided that Micky Van de Ven had pushed him – although “push” is a very loose term in this scenario.
Summerville and Bowen drove a fair few promising West Ham attacks from then on. Both Paquetá and Bowen came very close to capitalising – but beyond this came capitulation.
Giving away constant corners was simply tempting fate. Every time Mohammed Kudus would swing the ball in, the pulse of every West Ham fan spiked. They were dealt with, but not convincingly – and Mads Hermansen was desperately struggling to command his area.
The corners being “dealt with” had their limit of course. Almost inevitably, Pape Matar Sarr headed home at the back post following Xavi Simons’ delivery. And so, said capitulation began.
Tomas Souček was penalised just seven minutes later with a dangerous challenge on Joao Palhinha. Having split the Spurs midfielder’s sock with his studs, Souček could not disguise it – and the Czech midfielder was dismissed for serious foul play.
Only nine seconds after play resumed, Lucas Bergvall was straight in a position to loop a header over Mads Hermansen. The Dane was caught off his line and scrambling, and just like that, the game was effectively done.
What hurt the most is that a team with ten should still put up a fight (in theory). There still could have been eleven on that pitch, and the same head-drop would have happened.
Van de Ven added insult to injury seven minutes after Bergvall’s goal with a simple finish in the penalty area. It was not directly from a corner, but it came from the second ball. Basics yet again failed West Ham.
After such a high in Nottingham, one might have thought that West Ham could gain momentum – particularly considering Tottenham’s diabolical loss to Bournemouth that same week. However, momentum appears to be an invalid state of affairs at this club, and it is continually hurting any long term plans that anyone in the club might have.
It must constantly be reiterated that West Ham have an infrastructure that would have been deemed futuristic in 2005. We are 20 years on, and things are undoubtedly outdated. Combine that with a consistently indecisive manager and an unfamiliar group of players, and you get this mess. Things will improve, but not to any extent where there is long term security on the pitch.
That exact lack of long-term security is why West Ham never permanently progress beyond a club that floats above relegation. Everybody bar the ownership can see that. Players are sold at 2010 prices because of their 2026 contracts, and the offloaded wage barely covers a 2008 signing. Managers and recruitment officials are then consistently denied their optimal plan, despite said optimal plan proving to be a credible one. What can these managers do with such restricted resources?
This level of planning leads to the scramble for a manager that can work on a low budget. They are almost extinct, and West Ham already used one of them up. Twice. Potter may not help himself, and it is yet to be seen across an extended period whether his new players will change his fortune, but he still does not have all guns blazing no matter the level of form.
Untapped potential seeps through the club’s veins. A fanbase nullified by an inadequate stadium feels it more than anyone; going to the game makes losses feel worse than what they are – it feels like a robbery. It is a robbery. Hundreds of pounds on almost nothing.
To make matters worse, a Crystal Palace side unbeaten in 15 competitive games visit next week. The Premier League feels like pure suffocation.
Harry Scarfe, recent winner of Young Football Content Creator of the Year at the Football Content Awards – chose to interview me after Mohammed Kudus made the controversial move from West Ham to Tottenham. Live stream below.
The story surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the most successful club in England sent shockwaves across the footballing globe. A close call with vehement rivals Manchester City – a duel in the transfer market which was only ever going to end one way once Sir Alex Ferguson got involved – saw an intense morning round off with that much-anticipated link to the Manchester United website on Twitter. “Welcome home, Cristiano” soared across social media, and suddenly the red side of Manchester rapturously erupted. In their eyes, the greatest to ever do it was on his way back from his loan spells in Madrid and Turin. Finally.
Even your average Premier League fan was excited to see Ronaldo return to England at the time. The novelty of seeing him play live in the flesh after so many years was sweet. Children and young adults were now able to see him in the Premier League; only this time at a stage where they can remember it. Forever. “I got to see Cristiano Ronaldo live” will be passed on among generations for the people who got to see him during his one-and-a-half year spell in Manchester. Ronaldo came to deliver goals – and at the very least, he did exactly that.
Judgement day came on the 11th September, 2021. Could Cristiano still do it in the Premier League? Was he fast enough? “Welcome Back” printed on flags. “He’s home” plastered on walls. “Viva Ronaldo!” bellowing around Manchester. “7: Ronaldo” on that largely awaited team sheet. It was actually happening. Their scrawny, skinny, Portuguese boy who once won everything with his beloved Manchester United was back in town – only this time as a muscular, wiser, sculpture of sheer success.
The 47th and 62nd minute of that game will never be forgotten by those in attendance. The two goals. Dreams had well and truly been brought to fruition in the theatre that day, as Manchester United were on top of the table. On top of the world. Was it a sign of things to come?
Immediately after came the UEFA Champions League debut against Young Boys. Once again, Cristiano produced despite United losing 2-1. Afterwards, a match against West Ham, with Ronaldo scoring the first of two goals. He truly was back. A sense of inevitability surrounded the games he featured in. The one which instantly comes to mind is Villarreal at home; a 2-1 win whereby Ronaldo himself latched onto a bouncing Jesse Lingard pass in the 95th minute, sending limbs flying and commentators roaring.
Not long after, however, United’s plan hit the rocks. A shocking downward spiral in form saw United lose 5-0 to Liverpool and 4-1 to Watford, amongst many other soulless performances. Not only was manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job under scrutiny, but fingers were also pointed at the players – without much hesitation either. Even Ronaldo suffered criticism; despite the goals he had scored, pundits and fans brought forward the suggestion that it had become a little too much about Ronaldo. He was instantaneously the problem, an interruption to the Manchester United project. They feared that United’s system had become so centred around him that it was becoming tougher for other players within the team to score goals. Players such as Ronaldo’s compatriot Bruno Fernandes endured a dramatic fall in output. It was all going wrong.
Solskjaer getting sacked as a result of the dipping form was the beginning of a, let’s say, interesting period in Manchester United history. This is the part where, in Cristiano’s eyes, respect started to fade between Ronaldo and the club’s hierarchy. The club appointed a previously-known Sporting Director, Ralf Rangnick, as an interim coach; a role Rangnick himself was totally unfamiliar with. “This guy is not even a coach,” Ronaldo would say to Piers Morgan in a ground-breaking interview just months later, “how can I have respect for him?” After a short upbringing in performances, the Rangnick era was not a particularly successful one. A 6th place finish only helped by a final-day slip-up from West Ham, meant the Red Devils were to be back in the Europa League, a competition that Cristiano was totally unfamiliar with.
With standards having dramatically lowered since Ronaldo’s last spell in Manchester, summer 2022 was not a quiet one from his perspective. Rumour had it that Ronaldo already wanted out – he wanted to seek a new challenge at a higher level. Headlines surrounding transfer requests and pre-season no-shows amongst all sorts broke in the media. Unfaithfulness began. Ronaldo claims that all of this was due to his new-born daughter being sick, and that those higher up in the club did not believe him. It’s fair to say that this is not something anybody would fabricate, particularly under the spotlight, and by that point you’d think there was no going back in terms of earning Cristiano’s respect. Yet, by the time the transfer window closed, Ronaldo was still very much a Manchester United player.
Rangnick was forced to cut short his contract which would have seen him go up into the role he was more familiar with at Manchester United, and in stepped Erik ten Hag. Being an up-and-coming manager with a high profile in the Netherlands, exciting times were ahead. Exciting times… largely without Cristiano Ronaldo. Ten Hag immediately attempted to bring in a more team-focused philosophy, building a squad of fighters rather than a team of passengers. Incomings Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, and Antony, adjacent to the return of Anthony Martial from Sevilla, saw a new-look United team hit some solid form after a slightly rocky start at Old Trafford. But where was the talisman in all of this?
Not much can get by at Manchester United without Ronaldo eventually entering the conversation. He was the elephant in the room, the myth amongst the merriment. Underneath the superficial feel-good factor around Old Trafford was a very unsettled Ronaldo. A broken man who felt he had been betrayed by not only the coaches, but the club as a whole institution. Fuel was slowly being added to the fire, with Ronaldo not featuring in the forever fierce Manchester derby, which saw United get humiliated 6-3. Erik ten Hag attempted to propose the idea that it was out of respect for Ronaldo’s career that he did not feature, but with a previous lack of respect shown, would Ronaldo have been inclined to believe that?
On top of this incident came a substitution against Tottenham Hotspur which would only have caught sight of Ronaldo for approximately three minutes. However, nobody caught sight of CR7 in the first place, as he stormed down the tunnel instead. An unprofessional act, one of built-up frustration that Ronaldo had not once faced in his senior career so far. An act which he notably regrets, as mentioned in the interview with Piers Morgan. Ronaldo faced a three-day ban put down by the club, which meant he was suspended from the line-up against Chelsea that upcoming week; a punishment further proving the disciplinary regulations set by the boss. The fairy-tale was becoming fairly stale.
The small period after this was a little break from drama; a chance for redemption. A refresh. Ronaldo came on and scored in a win over Everton; bringing out a new celebration putting the classic “Siu” into retirement. A celebration seemingly representing rest, or peace. Was all finally at peace, though? Ronaldo continued on to score in further matches, before the World Cup break began. It was from that moment on that hell broke loose once again.
At the end of the 2022 summer transfer window, Ronaldo had hinted on Instagram that he would do an “explosive” interview – one opposing journalists and pundits that had fabricated stories about him to paint him in a worse picture than necessary. Nobody can deny that he stuck to his word. Piers Morgan’s “Uncensored” hit the world like a train hitting a titanium wall, with Ronaldo rampaging against almost everybody associated with Manchester United.
From disrespect by Erik ten Hag to a lack of care by the Glazers, Ronaldo hit out at anything he felt wasn’t right, out of what can only be described as love for Manchester United. The story surrounding his sick child left Ronaldo feeling betrayed, a high amount of familiarity when re-joining left Ronaldo feeling as though the owners did not care enough, and the modern day world left Ronaldo feeling as though youth footballers couldn’t care enough anymore. For the most part Cristiano was putting forward things that fans wanted to hear, as they too had seen a lowering of standards at the club. But the disrespect to Erik ten Hag in particular left the general feeling encompassing the interview in limbo. People weren’t sure whether to feel as if he had broken a membrane through calling out the Glazers, or whether he had taken a step backwards by showing a lack of respect to his manager.
Nonetheless, it undoubtedly brought about an abrupt end to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United career; forever this time. The termination of Ronaldo’s contract on the 22nd November 2022 signs off a hectic year-and-a-half in England. If you ever doubted Ronaldo’s love for the club, his decision to turn down the £17M pay-off may confirm that even the interview was done out of love for Manchester United. But for now, no one knows what’s next for Ronaldo, as the Manchester United chapter closes.
It’s the stuff of dreams. A report on the night West Ham won their first major trophy in forty-three years.
Oneirataxia – the inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. This is what European glory feels like for West Ham.
A young boy from Hereford got his chance to introduce just that. It was Jarrod Bowen; he who had the chance to bring retrouvaille with European glory. It was the biggest minute, second, moment of his career. An embodiment of hard work bringing success.
The second the ball brushed the back of Terracciano’s net can only be likened to that of a tectonic plate. The plate that shifted to cause the eruption of limbs in West Ham’s end. The pyroclastic flow of celebration that followed will likely not be matched for years – potentially decades – and the volcano itself, the Eden Arena, turned claret and blue to become the most treasured location in West Ham’s recent history.
Truth be told, it was not West Ham’s finest display. Nerves were uncovered through an array of misplaced passes and elastic first touches – particularly in the first half. A disallowed Jović goal just before half time stopped all pulses that were fuelled by claret and blue vascularity.
The turn of the half brought about West Ham’s first moment. A long throw, having bounced off the chest of Jarrod Bowen, struck the arm of Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi. An anxiously durable VAR check resulted in a penalty being given, and the ever-reliable Saïd Benrahma stepped up and thundered the ball into the top right-hand corner.
The Algerian certainly knows how to celebrate, stamping his trademark gesture in Europa Conference League history. Left hand across the face, right hand pointing to the temple… an emblem of composure. Having just score the biggest goal of his career, Benrahma’s family-oriented personality shone even then, as his eyes glazed over the crowd to find his mother. It created the perfect freeze-frame: mother and son seeking each other amongst the rewards of everything Saïd had ever worked for. The number 22, the number Benrahma had chosen in honour of his dead father, rose above all others as he stood tall on the advertisement boards.
It did not take long for Giacomo Bonaventura to level things again though, and it had serious tossed West Ham’s short-lived momentum out of the window. Spine-chilling.
Nonetheless, after Lucas Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen capitalised on Fiorentina’s acceptance of extra time, emotion took over. Tears, sweat, and most importantly rapturous celebration. Not one person on that pitch deserved it less than any other – every single contribution was wholly meaningful on the road to glory.
Orenda – a mystical force present in people that empowers them to affect the world, or to affect change in their own lives. Each player with the crossed hammers on their chest possessed such a thing.
And, just like that, the credits rolled and the curtains closed. A hard, rocky season, but a season that meant more than any other in the past 43 years. A trophy and another season of Europa League football were secured. Season 128 of West Ham United Football Club awaits, and it will not be easy to come anywhere near topping this feeling.
When players moved from the UK to Saudi Arabia last summer, it was no secret that many left to take advantage of the income tax-free high wages that were on offer. These players, including Jota, left the UK part-way through the 2023/2024 tax year, which began on the 6th April 2023 and ends on the 5th April 2024.
This means that if the former Celtic man wants to be considered a non-UK resident from the date that he left in order to earn the full extent of his income in Saudi Arabia, he would need to work in Saudi Arabia for the entirety of the next tax year – April 6th 2024 until April 5th 2025. If the Portuguese winger does choose to move to West Ham this month, even on loan, he risks a portion of his overseas salary being taxable in the UK.
As per Ben Jacobs, Saudi Arabian sources insist that Jota is actually earning half of what was rumoured to be wages of around £190K per week. Regardless of if he earns the full £190K or just £95K a week, his disposable income (the money he earns after tax) would take a serious hit should he return. No matter what Jota is earning a week, he would of course be in the tax bracket of £125,140 a year and above, meaning he could be taxed 45-47% of his overseas income.
Why is this a hurdle?
Al-Ittihad want all of Jota’s wages covered if he is on loan, which are not only high as it is, but make it much tougher for Jota to accept given the amount of money he could lose – particularly if that is the primary reason he went there in the first place. If he is to come to West Ham permanently, Jota will not only have the same issue, but will likely demand a very high salary from West Ham.
Additionally, as always, agents play a colossal role in football transfers, and tax comes into the equation for agent fees too. It’s common for a football club to pay agent fees on their player’s behalf. These are classed as a “Benefit in Kind” – benefits that employees or directors receive from their employer which aren’t included in their salary or wages, and are also subject to tax in the UK.
As we know, agents are more of a problem than the players with regard to financial demands. The tax issue provides more incentive for Jota’s agency, Jorge Mendes’ GESTIFUTE, to demand inflated agent fees to maximise the disposable income received from the deal. It is not the be all and end all of this transfer, but a significant hurdle that all parties must overcome in order for the deal to happen.
A situation that makes this transfer harder than any normal move, if you will.
A look at the assiduous philosophy that has resurrected the structure of David Moyes’ best days at West Ham.
There are a number of colossal alterations that took place at West Ham over the summer. From Declan Rice’s departure to a reversion on the experiments from last season, identity, morale, and purpose appear to be reigniting themselves over in East London.
Last year’s Premier League campaign, on the whole, was a mess. Moyes’ side weren’t mathematically safe until the penultimate match week of the season, and even this was due to a slight return to the old counter-attacking formula.
Despite the Conference League win, a huge problem was still there to be addressed. The reality of the situation was that the quality of the Conference League was incomparable to that of the Premier League, and if West Ham wanted to be competing at the top end of the league, something had to change.
The departure of Declan Rice was arguably the most significant transfer that took place across the entirety of last summer, all things considered – and I’m talking across the league, not just for Arsenal and West Ham. He was undoubtedly West Ham’s best player, but behind the meretricious phenomenon that was West Ham’s number 41, it appears now to be a change that benefited all parties.
The issue with Rice at West Ham came down to a combination of a few different things. His offensive game had improved over time, and Moyes was trying to shoehorn Rice’s offensive ability into his system whilst simultaneously maintaining the defensive know-how he had in order to cover all areas. But when your midfield partner is Tomas Souček and the number 10 in front of you is a free-roaming Lucas Paquetá who also needs to show off his attacking nouse, an imbalance forms.
A noticeable product of this was an enormous gap left unoccupied by West Ham players between their defence and attack. Take this moment from when West Ham lost 4-0 away to Brighton last season.
Facundo Buonanotte holds the ball out on the right hand side. He has managed to find himself ahead of West Ham’s entire midfield, with three options in this enormous gap West Ham have left in front of their defence. Danny Welbeck, Julio Enciso, and Jeremy Sarmiento are all occupying this space.
Buonanotte opts for Danny Welbeck, who now has far more time than he should have to decide on what to do. Rice was too far forward to press Buonanotte in a fashion that would have forced him wide, and Downes is also too far forward, meaning he cannot catch Welbeck in time.
Welbeck gets his shot off as Downes desperately throws his leg out…
And Welbeck scores to put Brighton 4-0 up.
This was an ongoing issue in multiple games last season, particularly in heavy defeats. Even the teams down below West Ham (who were low enough themselves) were picking up on it. This was in the build up to Leeds’ equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Elland Road:
Declan Rice did pick up on this himself on the odd occasion, but on the whole he still wasn’t able to maintain it. It would be the fault of all three midfielders; Lucas Paquetá would either be in an unhelpful position halfway across the pitch, and Souček would be too far up with too little pace to track back, having attempted to arrive late into the box whilst West Ham were attacking. Rice would also have the same issue every now and then.
This is where the signings of Edson Alvarez from Ajax and James Ward-Prowse from Southampton came in – big time.
Moyes got his top two targets in midfield thanks to the introduction of Tim Steidten, who has been an absolute revelation in the transfer market for West Ham and pushed deals over the line that many could see falling through without his insistence. This insistence needed substance, and you can see exactly why Ward-Prowse and Alvarez topped the list. The pair are hard-working, organised and tenacious midfielders who are happy to stick to a set role and master it. This is not to say that Rice wasn’t able to do that – but the issue was that Rice’s best role did not really suit what Moyes wanted.
The difference is enormous when compared to last year’s loss at Brighton, with this years win at Brighton the main indicator of the improvement.
Where there would have been large spaces and pockets for the Brighton attackers to fill before, they are no longer. Edson Alvarez was set in place to track whoever made the most dangerous run between Evan Ferguson and Danny Welbeck, whilst Ward-Prowse sat just in front, in the midfield line of 4 in a defensive 4-1-4-1/5-4-1 (depending on how deep Alvarez had to drop).
This defensive shape is impressively compact, and whilst it makes it extremely tough for the opposition to find a pass, if they do find a pass, time on the ball will be very limited. In this case, Ward-Prowse uses his excellent perspicacity (something West Ham will have identified as an important attribute of his – he ranked in the 93rd percentile for interceptions per 90 before signing) to cut the pass out and set West Ham on one of their usual counter attacks.
It was from this that Ward-Prowse himself went and scored, after Michail Antonio routinely bullied Brighton’s defence and created the chance from it.
This is where the new outline of West Ham’s system is comely. The midfield contains a fantastic mix of technical ability, equanimity and defensive prowess. Defensively Lucas Paquetá sits at the top of the Premier League for tackles and loose ball recoveries, whilst Edson Alvarez does the bulk of the defensive work and James Ward-Prowse continues to prove his excellent interceptive ability.
With a comparison to last season, Lucas Paquetá either had no defensive responsibility or too much, and it wasn’t getting the best out of him. Rice, whilst a phenomenal ball carrier, doesn’t have the attacking ability that James Ward-Prowse has, and was not performing the Alvarez role meaning that defensive holes were left. Whilst Souček also has excellent interceptive statistics, going forward he does not offer much outside of aerial ability, and therefore progression was made much tougher due to the fact he wasn’t able to do as much with the ball at his feet. His attempts at going forward also left the aforementioned gaps ahead of the defence.
West Ham also used to have a serious issue when it came to attacking teams that did not impose themselves onto them, and subsequently did not leave space in behind for the Hammers to exploit. This was due to the fact that opponents learned to close down West Ham’s fullbacks quicker, after Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell were both competing at the top end of the assist table. Moyes may have his new solution.
Both number 8s in James Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paquetá now occupy the half-spaces in front of low blocks. This is the area in front of the defensive midfielders just inside the wingers or attacking fullbacks. Here’s perfect examples of both players doing so:
Against Luton, a side who would not allow West Ham lots of space in behind, Lucas Paquetá picked the ball up in the half-space ahead of Barkley and Nakamba. Previously, West Ham would opt to shift the ball out wide, but Antonio and Bowen are both ready to attack a cross.
Paquetá crosses it in, and Bowen heads it down to score.
This sequence also provides West Ham with a lot more options in the box. Whilst Benrahma and Bowen used to hang around out wide and cross the ball in themselves, they now attack the penalty area and become another option, increasing the likelihood of a cross finding a West Ham player.
Ward-Prowse, whilst having not done similar for West Ham as yet, has it in his locker and arguably to a higher degree than Paquetá – it can almost be treated as a dead ball.
Against Tottenham in 2022, Kyle Walker-Peters laid the ball back to Ward-Prowse, who already had three teammates attacking the penalty area. He targeted an unmarked Elyounoussi – one of Southampton’s wingers who tucked in instead of hovering out wide.
Low and behold, the ball finds Elyounoussi, who scores. An evident scenario that anyone could absolutely envisage happening at some point whilst Ward-Prowse is in East London.
The improvement on everybody else’s part is ultimately down to the shift to a suitable system. Bowen is thriving with space to tun into, Antonio is maintaining his hugely significant role as the outlet up top, and the defence is burgeoning in a compact low block once again.
Another huge difference maker though, is Alphonse Areola. His save percentage currently puts him at 2nd in the league with 80%. It is worth noting that the sample size is small, but alongside his fantastic performances against Chelsea and Brighton, he’s shown he can maintain this form across a season with Fulham. There, he saved the second highest expected goals in Europe behind Jan Oblak.
For comparison, Lukasz Fabianski’s save percentage stands at 69%, ranking him in the 38th percentile amongst goalkeepers in Europe. Areola’s percentage for the year stands at 76%, putting him in the 88th percentile. Distribution-wise, there is not much between the pair, though Areola is yet to display much indecisiveness when it comes to releasing the ball, unlike Fabianski. Perhaps consistent game time is all Areola needs.
Areola’s shot-stopping ability is just another wall to break down in Moyes’ low block, which leads onto the next point: the application of the low block.
Defying cliched narratives appears to be David Moyes’ way of displaying his knowhow when it comes to an effective counter attacking side. A common misconception is that persistent pressing means that you are a better side, but Moyes may have provided a revelation that doesn’t make this the case.
West Ham’s passes per defensive action (PPDA) is a measurement that expresses Moyes’ desire to press less intensely and allow teams to come onto his side. It is a quantification that gathers the intensity of a high press, and is therefore not measured when the team in possession reaches the final 40% of the pitch whilst attacking. It shows how many passes a team allow their opponent to complete before a tackle, block, interception etc. Last season’s PPDA of 15.09 has increased to 19.46, showing less of a desire to press high up the pitch and more of an emphasis on keeping the defensive shape, by allowing opponents to pass the ball around the back more.
Again, the primary example is in the 3-1 win over Brighton, but a distinct lack of pressing and more of a focus on closing passing lanes in order to provoke interceptions appears to be West Ham’s way forward. Providing a team with a lack of openings due to gaps not being left from pressing forces teams to move the ball into wide areas, and West Ham can rightfully back themselves when that happens.
It leaves a team with two options: attempting to cross the ball and hedge your bets in winning a header against aerial giants Zouma, Aguerd, and Alvarez, or attempting to dribble through West Ham’s compact block and create a chance through that. From West Ham’s perspective this is excellent, as even in a situation where a player does get through, they still have to face a bang in form Alphonse Areola.
This is still not a fully complete side, despite the level the team are performing at. The implementation of Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos is yet to come; Moyes exact plans for the pair will never be known until they start a match for the club, but Kudus is renowned for his counterattacking ability, and Mavropanos the same for his aerial ability, defensive solidity and progressive nature from defence.
Full understanding of Kudus could come about through the acquirement of coach John Heitinga, Ajax’s late interim coach who increased Kudus’ minutes and resultantly proliferated the Ghanaian’s output. His ability to hold off defenders and dribble with the ball will provide something similar to Antonio from attacking midfield – only with a smaller frame and therefore slightly less strength and less aerial threat. West Ham have certainly set themselves up to get the best out of their personnel, old and new.
It may be early days this season, but the future is looking extremely bright for David Moyes and his players.
West Ham’s annual marquee signing appears to have come to fruition, and unlike many others, one who appears to fit a David Moyes system!
I’d like to start this one with the personal, off-pitch characteristics and background of Kudus, though. Unlike several big money superstars, their cons frequently involve attitude problems or simply just egotistical nonsense. In Kudus’ case, that could not be further from the truth. He is proclaimed as a football-obsessed, hard-working, humble personality. He was raised in Nima, a residential community in Accra, Ghana – by his mother and grandmother. He owes a lot of his fortune to the pair of them – both through sacrifices they made for his career and lessons they taught him about life. His mother worked in a shop selling foodstuff – and though she had to work tirelessly in order to provide for her family and keep them living above the poverty line, she never forced Mo Kudus to work with her and instead pushed him to pursue football. Kudus’ footballing ability caught the attention of many within his area, and the more she heard about this, the more she urged him to keep improving.
From there Kudus joined his local club Strong Tower FC, one he recently donated to amongst other community football clubs in Ghana to show appreciation for the principles they taught him in his early career. It was there that Right to Dream Academy – founded by Manchester United’s head of scouting in Africa Tom Vernon – scouted Kudus, and did in fact give him the opportunity to dream. Kudus had to leave home at the age of 12 and move into shelter provided by Vernon, a man hailed with his generosity given to those in the poorer areas of Africa. After impressing there, Vernon brought him on to his European project in Denmark: FC Nordsjælland. Kudus embarked on his professional career there, making his name as a wonderkid and one of the top players in the Danish league within no time.
One club of many that began to take an interest in Kudus was Erik Ten Hag’s Ajax – a side beginning a new era after a phenomenal Champions League run that saw several important players such as Ziyech and De Jong depart. In 2020, Kudus was signed as part of the group to begin that new era. Despite initially being in Ajax’s reserve side, five goals in five appearances for Jong Ajax saw a swift promotion to the first team for Kudus, but he was never a regular under Ten Hag due to injuries and, well, Antony. The 22/23 season was Kudus’ big break.
The departure of Antony to Manchester United opened up the Ghanaian’s opportunity to secure a regular spot in Ajax’s side, and Alfred Schreuder did not hesitate to let him flourish. 6 goals and 1 assist in his first 5 games of the season, including a goal against Liverpool in the Champions League, alerted several clubs to the new Ajax revelation and the form only continued throughout the season. Kudus earned himself 16 goals and 5 assists across all competitions last season in 26 starts, and scored 2 goals in 3 games during Ghana’s short-lived World Cup campaign in Qatar. Low and behold – this all led him to West Ham!
Kudus, much like Lucas Paquetá, possesses the beautiful combination of brilliant technical ability and tenacious defensive attributes that West Ham fans adore. Whilst not having as much flair as Paquetá, Kudus still has hugely impressive dribbling capabilities, and will be particularly effective in transition due to the speed at which he can apply them. His pace is very effective and is very often a difference-maker in one-on-ones, runs in behind and even defensive work, and will play a huge part in Moyes’ transition-based system. Also in similar fashion to Paquetá, Kudus has a very noticeable physical characteristic that allows him to hold off defenders in order to protect the ball whilst running with it, and is also very comfortable in take-ons. He ranks in the 98th percentile for successful take-on percentage, with a 61.3% success rate. For comparison, our current highest at West Ham amongst our attacking midfielders/wingers is Paquetá with 50%. The only downside to this however is that this could well be due to the difficulty of the Eredivisie, and the fact that Ajax play a more attacking system than us. Nonetheless there is still a significant difference, and it will be interesting to see if he can take it into the Premier League. Offside awareness is also a weakness of Kudus’ too, with 0.88 offsides per 90 leaving him in the 2nd percentile across attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe. Very few are offside more often than him.
With ball retention, strength, dribbling and goals out of the way, what can Kudus offer us out of possession? Being hailed for tenacity and effort doesn’t come without evidence, for starters. Upon watching Kudus you will notice that he is an adamant presser, and whilst not always successful in doing so, the pace at which he can do it allowed Ajax to win the ball several times in the attacking third last season. Aerially, Kudus’ height gives him a disadvantage and that is something we will lose in attacking midfield if Paquetá is dropped deeper in future. West Ham won’t be expecting much defensively from their attacking midfielder other than tenacity itself, and long story short, that is what he’ll bring.
The main initial question mark that people had over this signing was where Kudus actually fits into West Ham’s side. Contrary to belief that he can play on the left wing, Kudus has only ever played one game on the left hand side, and it was not a successful one. However the reality is that Kudus doesn’t actually have one specific, better role. He is equally as good at coming inside onto his left foot from the right wing, operating in central attacking midfield or even providing an option up front as either a false nine or as a bog standard number nine. If we are to start in the same formation that began the game against Brighton last night, I would imagine that Kudus will slot into the number 10, meaning that Paquetá is pushed back alongside Ward-Prowse and Souček is dropped. Outside of that it is genuinely very hard to tell due to the fact we have almost undroppable players in his position, but Moyes will have his ideas. What the signing also provides is tactical and formative flexibility. If Bowen is injured, Kudus can replace him with Paquetá being moved forward and Souček making his way back into the 8. If Paquetá is injured then Souček can also come in, but it also opens up the option of moving to a wider formation; putting Benrahma out wide with Ward-Prowse and Alvarez in a double pivot and Kudus just in front. Kudus could also form a strong strike partnership with Antonio in a 5-3-2 if needed.
With regards to his own injury record, Kudus suffered two long injuries in 20/21 and 21/22. A torn meniscus kept him out of action for 17 games in 20/21, and he also missed the same amount of games in 21/22 with a fractured rib. The fractured rib does not demonstrate being prone to injury as such, and he has had the necessary surgery on the torn meniscus. Last season Kudus missed 6 games: 2 through illness and 4 through a hamstring injury. He is not one of those players who is almost 100% available, but if he can avoid the impactful injuries then you would assume he will still be available a lot of the time.
The pros absolutely outweigh the cons, and if Kudus can adapt to the Premier League well, we will have a real player on our hands. He’s the exact type of character Moyes goes for, and whilst Tim Steidten played an enormous role in his signing, you can absolutely see this move being an important one for all parties. Overcoming the difficulties and potential injuries will be the main obstacle in Kudus’ path to Premier League success, but if the application is right, West Ham could well have another huge coup on their books.
Joe Davis - Football 