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Anderson’s “wow factor” analysed

Hammers fan Danny Leach – CandH’s PlayerWatch man – lives in England but has Italian blood flowing through his veins.   He has good knowledge not only of Serie A,  but also Serie B and Lega Pro (Italian third division).

In Italy he supports Serie B’s Cosenza Calcio who  faced West Ham  in 1992 in the Anglo-Italian Cup where West Ham won 0-1 at the Stadio San Vito. 

As a student of the Italian game, Danny has become very aware of Felipe Anderson over recent years and as his switch to the Irons appears to get closer and closer here looks at the player Pellegrini sees as his ace should he get him.

Felipe Anderson Pereira Gomes looks set to finally switch from Lazio to our beloved Irons with many asking why the 25 year old appears to have become key to Manuel Pellegrini – even in excess of €50 million euros. I hope I can help throw some light on why his chase has become intense!

during the Serie A match between Torino FC and SS Lazio at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on March 16, 2015 in Turin, Italy.

Anderson signed for Lazio in 2013 as a near unknown figure from Santos and lived in the shadow of Neymar and Ganso at the time. It was in his second season where he would break out on the scene with 11 goals and 7 assists in 23 starts which prompted Lazio to reject a bid of €50 million in the summer of 2015 from Manchester United.

In his next two seasons he didn’t kick on from that exceptional breakthrough year but nevertheless he maintained decent form. However in the most recent season he was back to his very best and despite being restricted to just 12 starts,  scored 7 and assisted 10.

Having maintained excellent form this season his lack of playing time has prompted Anderson to seek a way out of  Lazio with manager Simone Inzaghi preferring both Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

To put things into context Lazio have placed a price tag of over €100 million for Savic when Juventus were interested  which prompted Juve to buy Ronaldo.

Anderson can operate on both wings and as an attacking midfielder but I would expect Pellegrini to play Yarmolenko on the right wing and Anderson either as and attacking midfielder or left wing.

He is incredibly quick – probably the quickest at the club, is strong and has a powerful right foot. But at the same time he is slender, has quick feet, dribbles with the ball close to his feet and loves to drop his shoulder to get a killer pass, cross or a shot away.

Did I mention that he is not bad at set pieces too and he also tracks back for the team when needed. He has that ‘wow’ factor about him and every now and then you will find yourself with your mouth gaping in awe. I guess he is similar to Payet in the sense he has that twinkle toe ability.

The failed approach from Manchester United in 2015 and his regular appearances  has made him almost untouchable until this season. He is a great player in an exceptional Lazio team and with the right manager such as Pellegrini and a consistent run of games he has the potential to reach the heights of Payet at his very best managed and become a truly world class player.

Many have questioned his consistency in recent years which is a reason why he has only had one cap for Brazil. Considering that many of his appearances have been as a substitute he has never had a great run in the team to develop consistent form.

Under Pellegrini I’m convinced he can get his marquee man to perform week in week out as Moyes did with Arnautovic. Should he arrive  I’m sure us fans will love him.

COYI

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

2 comments on “Anderson’s “wow factor” analysed

  1. He looks like he could play the same way Arnie does for us, which of course raises the suspicion about where all the money is coming from ? I hope we will have both in our team imagine a twin strike force of Arnie and Anderson the AAA – Anderson Arnie Attackforce !!!

    That would really frighten defences !!!

  2. We’ve probably already sold Arnie to Man U! Cynical? Me? Never!

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