With the impending departure of Crysencio Summerville, West Ham’s left-sided wide options look sparse. The exit of Adama Traore at the end of his half-season contract at east London shows up Nuno’s squad as having very few options on that left hand side.
Many – me included- expected Keiber Lamadrid to operate opposite Jarrod Bowen with, perhaps, Nuno having one eye on a possible summer sale for the Dutch winger leading him to trigger Lamadrid’s £1m release clause after a short loan.
Lamadrid has clearly worked on his physique this summer
However, evidently that isn’t how Lamadrid himself regards his future at West Ham. The Venezuelan’s words speak volumes about how he sees his position and his likely role within Nuno’s West Ham United side: And seemingly it is not, first and foremost, as a left winger:
“You are a versatile player. What is your favourite position?“..
I think that’s valuable for any coach because he wants to have a player in many positions.
The truth is that I like it. I adapt quickly to the position I have to play in. I’ve played as a full-back and can also play on the outside, but I like to play more on the inside, to connect, to play forward.
I think that’s my biggest strength and makes me feel comfortable.” (whufc.com)
From the look of him in training images, he’s put the summer to good use and has been hitting the gym ready to deal with the physicality of a full gruelling season in the second tier.
Nuno’s deployment of the Venezuelan as an attacking midfielder rather than an out-and-out winger against Southend might well have been out of necessity: However, as the pre-season games come and go, if Lamadrid continues in a more central role, it will be evident that Nuno shares the player’s view that he’s better off closer to the centre of the pitch.
It’ll also surely hasten the Hammers’ search for a genuine wide player with whom to start the Championship season.
He seemed to want to take the ball, play quickly and also to dribble past players, which was great to see. Academy players pass their way through midfield very well. As soon as they came on 2nd half it was automatic (they know each other so well), pass & move, pass & move,… Good to have that contrast of styles in a midfield. He was not that easy to get off the ball either – tenacious.
Will be interesting to watch. Equally Magassa, who seems like a box-to-box midfielder… Just impressions, will be interesting to watch these guys develop.
Glad to see Potts was captain, as you’d think this was meaningful, so he is doing something right in training. Thought he struggled a bit last season, but probably he learnt a lot and it is just part of that patient development everyone talks about, overcoming more difficult times on a pitch and the following season it’s a changed/better player.
So, halfway through the summer transfer window now, what exciting prospects have been brought in to set the championship alight and get West Ham back into the PL at the first attempt?
He was certainly better inside when he played previously and also 10x better when we switched to 442
I wonder also if he could be converted to a full back with a similar style to Diouf or Emerson, the championship will offer opportunities to experiment with that.
i still say play Diouf their as he has more about him that can be worked on going forward than as a defender