Moyes may have found key to unlock Anderson

By CandH blogger Alan Cummings

Is Felipe Anderson set to be the most unlikely beneficiary from David Moyes’ reappointment as West Ham United manager?

Unlikely because it’s generally thought Moyes prefers his players to be first and foremost industrious and solid in their work – which on the face of it would appears to be at odds with what Anderson has had to offer so far at least this season.

Amid general dissatisfaction with the team, Felipe in particular has come in for some stern criticism for his perceived lack of intensity, light-weight style and little or no end product.

General opinion appeared to lean towards the assumption Anderson’s days at the London Stadium could well be numbered once Moyes had got his feet under the table and formulated his plan for taking the team forward.  But that’s certainly not the way it’s looked in the first two games under Moyes’ stewardship.

Anderson has been relieved of the wide left roll he regularly occupied under Pellegrini  and used instead in a more central attacking role, playing just off Sebastian Haller. It’s produced a Felipe Anderson we haven’t seen before. He looks a different player. More focused, more determined and certainly more effective.

The Brazilian has put down a marker to the manager that he’s more than ready to play his part in taking West Ham back up the league table.

Against Bournemouth Anderson was a constant threat. The team has been criticised for lacking pace, but Felipe is no slouch when he gets going, and he used that pace to cause the Cherries defence all kinds of problems.

Last season he finished on nine goals, just one behind top scorer Marko Arnautovic, but he had failed to hit the net once this season. That duck was broken against Bournemouth – capping what was possibly his best 70 minutes of the season, before being replaced by Manuel Lanzini.

He had previously been ’hooked’ by Pellegrini on several occasions, and because of that looked to be falling out of love with the Chilean. By contrast he left the field at the London Stadium to a standing ovation.

On Sunday against Gillingham, the sort of uncompromising opposition where in the past he might well have gone missing, Felipe was at the centre of most Hammers’ attacks, capping another encouraging performance by setting up the second, and tie-clinching goal for Pablo Fornals.

We will all recall how Moyes’ first spell as manager re-invigorated a sleeping Marko Arnautovic two seasons ago. Clearly it’s still early days, but the signs are encouraging that Moyes could be about to have the same positive effect on Felipe Anderson.