By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
It’s easy to understand why West Ham fans want Pablo to do well. After all, God loves a trier, and it’s always been said that Hammers fans will back anyone who gives 100%.
For that reason, January’s £20 million signing from Gil Vicente is a tough one to discuss. He seems like a good lad and appears genuinely delighted to have represented the club and been given the opportunity to move from footballing obscurity into the spotlight.
But unfortunately, what has become abundantly clear is that Pablo appears to be unsuited to the English game. And that’s putting it kindly.
Let’s be fair, if Pablo Felipe was an absolute wrong’un with a stinking attitude, he’d be getting dog’s abuse by now because, frankly, he’s not good enough.
Hard work can only take you so far
When Nuno Espírito Santo decided to spend £20 million of the club’s money on the son of his former team-mate in January, I don’t think expectations were especially high. Hammers fans understood we couldn’t get the pick of the bunch from the transfer market while battling relegation.
But at the very least, most of us expected to sign a player who was competent in the basics of the game, which, unfortunately, Pablo is not.
Apologists for the transfer point out that the 22-year-old has time on his side to develop. But his lack of technique, awareness and ponderous style are so far behind the required standard that it’s difficult to see any amount of coaching bridging the gap.
People point to his work rate, pressing, tackling and willingness to close down, all of which are admirable qualities. But for the money paid, you have to at least threaten to put the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately, the young Brazilian looks a million miles away.
His first touch is so poor that his second touch is invariably a tackle or a wrestle as he struggles to regain control of the ball. His ability to turn, pass and run all takes so much time that it slows down the whole team’s ability to attack.
Nuno’s faith worries me more than Pablo himself
Of course, there are those who point out that the team performs better with him in it, and that argument certainly had some merit on occasions last season.
But I’m unconvinced by claims that the Championship will better suit his level and that he is poised to take the EFL by storm.
Which brings us back to Espírito Santo, who clearly saw something in Pablo’s ability that persuaded him to sign off on the transfer. But £20 million is a lot to pay for an honest worker and willing runner who lacks the very basics of pace, control, passing, positioning and agility.
At the moment, I’m absolutely terrified the club are not in the market for another striker, which we so desperately need, because Nuno is going to stick to his policy of playing Pablo.
Every manager has a blind spot, of course, and it would be cruel to suggest using this striker is like playing with 10 men. After all, every building site needs a labourer, right?
But there comes a point where he is taking a place in the team that would be better filled by somebody with a cutting edge. That might be outright pace, shooting, dribbling or the vision to play a defence-splitting pass. Any one of those attributes would be an upgrade on what Pablo is currently giving us.
I genuinely hope I’m proven wrong and the striker turns out to be far better than I suspect. Unfortunately, there now appears to be such a large body of evidence suggesting he simply isn’t up to the standard required at West Ham.
I’d say he was 21 when we signed him – from Portugal where they speak his lingo. Scored 5 in 20 then 10 in 13 in consecutive seasons in Portugal. Thats not Haaland-esque but for a young Brazilian lad in his breakthrough seasons it’s not bad at all. 6 months is nothing for a new player to settle in.
I’d give him time and hope he’ll prove you wrong Gonzo.
Is it possible for him to be repurposed as a midfielder? Don’t forget Joe Linton had similar qualities and look at him now.
Let’s face it, Pablo is pretty much useless. OK, he tries. But that is all. There is no end product. It is senseless to go on trying to fit him in – he cannot play football to the standard required. He has to go – if we can find anyone to take him!
you only have to read Dave’s statement above about the reality of Pablo’s move to West Ham-Nuno is just in a situation where he has obviously agreed to play his mates son(Mendes-agent) as much as he can,He is a likeable bloke and tries hard but he is just not good enough.We should have learned by now that we can’t afford to carry passengers,players who are just not good enough to wear the shirt-that’s why we are back in the Championship.
my personal opinion is that he will turn out to be far better than you suspect Kris , i read reports in other articles that we need to give foreign players time to settle and to adjust to the English game and yet it seems he was expected to come into a struggling team and hit the ground running and change our fortunes , i’m sure he had a time out injured as well , he may look a touch slow at times but on other occasions he seems to be able to open things up with unexpected touches and vision , at the moment he looks like a poor man’s ricky villa but hey relegation threatened beggars can’t be choosers , we’ll just have to wait and see if he’s championship material i suppose , let’s hope he shines x
Well at least with Soucek injured, the hatchet job is focused on someone else this summer. Whatever happened to getting behind the team?
I totally agree with the statements about playing him as a 9, and considering how many other strikers have failed to live up to their price tags for us in the past, perhaps it’s time to look at how we as a club utilise aand support these players?
Like it or not the team played an awful lot better, and secured more points per game, with Pablo in it than it did without him.
maybe ask the manager why his mate Mendes got a reported 13m from the deal and the club only 7m..
might explain why he signed….
Never once played as the central striker why not what is the explanation? i will not castigate the man and will wait to see what happens if it dawns on Nuno to actually play the man in his natural position………and Gonzo if he does not what striker do you want? you want one young with pace to burn and scores well guess what we cannot attract or afford that kind of player so hows about utilising what we have and play the man in the role he knows.
Keep the faith Gonzo. In Nuno we trust.
I accept he was not as successful as he or we would have like in the Prem, but how can you judge on whether he will suit the Championship? Could it be that this season may be the making of him? What is the basis of your judgement when we have not played a single game in the championship yet? Feels he is being sentenced without a trial!
Appalling player and should never have been signed.
He looks like a competition winner to be a footballer for a day and his second touch is a tackle.
People will say he’s being played out of position but even when he does get a chance he doesn’t look like he could hit a cows a*** with a banjo.
He’s one we should be getting rid of pronto otherwise his value is only going one way.
Jeff your 100% correct ..
I’m seriously not terrified give the a chance !!
Steve B
Well as usual you and your mates are doing your worst to stir the toilet before a real ball is kicked, not only have you crucified the lad but you then go on to let us know, every manager has a blind spot. Are you now medically experienced to realise such information from afar, when did you last interview Nuno, what on earth do you know better than the manager, coaches assistants about Pablo or any other West Ham player. Fair play, your entitled to your opinion but hey, don’t start dictating the mood, everyone’s finding it embarrassing
Play him as a striker, then. Stop sticking him in the hole and use him as a proper target man.
Yes, he’s got his flaws, but he’s also only 22 years old. Should he be our starting centre-forward? Maybe not. Did we probably overpay because of our circumstances? Quite possibly.
But has he actually been given a fair chance by either the fans or this site? Not even close.