West Ham defender Luizao is understandably frustrated at his lack of first-team chances since moving from Brazil to East London.
And it seems the person who has received the brunt of the criticism is former Hammers gaffer David Moyes, who is accused of “buying ready-made players instead of preparing the younger ones”.
In defence of Moyesie, I doubt very much if Luizao’s transfer from SĂŁo Paulo was anything to do with the Scotsman. The deal itself has the whiff of what I often call a ‘Wellington Paulista’ type puntâroughly translated, a gamble on an unknown Brazilian by David Sullivan.
These types of transfers rarely come offâfor West Ham at leastâand whilst I can understand the central defenderâs frustration, it’s not really Moyes’ fault. I’ve seen Luizao play live on two occasions and if I’m honest, both Kaelan Casey and Michael Forbes looked to be the better players.
Perhaps it was a fish out of water situation, and it can’t be easy to move from another continent just to play reserve football. That said, the arrival of Julen Lopetegui didnât seem to improve the defenderâs luck, so it’s not all Moyesâ fault.
For the record, this one isn’t on Tim Steidten either, who wasnât at West Ham when the then 20-year-old agreed to join. If anything, Luizao is the victim of a scattergun transfer policy and the lack of a club structure that really had no plan for the poor fella.
One can only hope that this type of deal will be long gone with Mark Noble now overseeing the recruitment of younger players who will serve their apprenticeship in the U21s.