By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Pablo has made something of a reputation for himself at West Ham by being effective despite rarely threatening the opposition goal.
It’s an unusual trait for a £20million striker, but one Nuno Espírito Santo is clearly prepared to accept.
Following West Ham’s 3-2 win at Bolton, the Hammers boss once again leapt to Pablo’s defence, insisting the goals will eventually arrive and praising everything else the 22-year-old brings to the team.
Speaking after the game, Nuno said:
“Hope they [the goals] come soon, because look what Pablo does for the team, he’s amazing. We believe that the goal is going to come, but he never says no to the hard work and the movements, he links the game, he defends, fantastic player.”
Unfortunately, against Bolton, even the usual argument in Pablo’s favour became difficult to make.
Pablo takes a step backwards
Following his performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers, there were genuine signs of improvement.
Pablo was influential, linked play well, demonstrated some deft touches and, importantly, showed an increased ability to win his duels.
Against Bolton he was back to his worst, I’m afraid.
He worked hard but looked clumsy and wasn’t particularly well suited to the game, lacking the pace and technical ability to trouble Bolton’s defenders.
West Ham fans are desperate for Pablo to get his first goal
Bowen created a decent opportunity for him, but Pablo had strayed offside and completely missed the ball anyway.
I don’t think Nuno helped him by partnering him with Mohamadou Kanté during the first half either. It was a partnership which simply didn’t work.
But probably the most disturbing aspect of Pablo’s performance was his inability to trouble Bolton physically.
West Ham supporters have almost accepted that he’s not going to score many goals, whilst willing him desperately to prove us wrong.
But the one thing you normally know you’re going to get from Pablo is physicality.
Even that was missing at Bolton.
Pablo’s Bolton numbers are worrying
The statistics underline the problem.
Pablo played 70 minutes and won only five of his 17 duels – just 29%.
He won two of seven aerial battles and only one of six offensive duels.
For a striker whose physical contribution is supposed to compensate for his lack of goals, those numbers simply aren’t good enough.
He managed only two touches inside Bolton’s penalty area and was caught offside twice.
Interestingly, his only shot was on target and carried an xG of 0.51, meaning the one genuine opportunity he did receive was a very presentable one.
Pablo completed 12 of his 16 passes and made nine recoveries, so there was still some of the hard work Nuno referenced. But he also lost possession 13 times.
It certainly explains why he received just 4/10 in our West Ham player ratings at Bolton.
Nuno’s faith can only stretch so far
And that’s what makes Nuno’s comments interesting.
The manager clearly sees far more value in Pablo’s overall contribution than his goalscoring record suggests.
Linking play, defending from the front, movement and hard work all matter, particularly within Nuno’s system.
But there has to be a point where the striker starts providing the thing he’s actually in the team to do.
Score goals.
I thought we saw some real improvement against Wolves and hoped Pablo might finally be starting to turn a corner.
Bolton felt like a step backwards.
Nuno clearly remains convinced the goals will come.
Let’s hope he’s right, because eventually even £20million strikers have to start scoring.
let’s remember the bulk of that transfer fee went to his agent , nuno’s mate….
I read somewhere that the other club only got 7m out of the deal? your sources may know more?
his value is probably closer to 5m which looks about right..
As much as I can see Nuno improving in his less defensive decisions lately, poor Josh Ajala must be sitting on the bench thinking how is this donkey still in front of me?!
You gave me my start, I gave you two goals and I haven’t been back on the pitch again since?!
Fair enough Nuno you want to see Pablo score, most of us do, but bring Ajala on for some minutes when Pablo has proved he can’t score again! The fans also want to see one of our own starting and scoring goals!
Hopefully the next cup game against Fulham Ajala will get another opportunity?
If you look at the games he starts with Taty he tends to play better football, then when Nuno start’s him with out Taty he is like a rabbit in the headlights, doesn’t know where to run, what to do! And it is those games with Taty where he tends to upset the opposition defence, its as if Taty can control him and marshal him to where and what he should be doing. He doesn’t play like a natural striker, he plays like some one shoe horned into a position because of his size and speed, some games you have to give him 100% for effort but only 5-10% for style and ability, because he doesn’t know where he should be or what he should be doing as Taty isn’t there guiding him; I like most would love for him to score, and with perseverance I am sure he would, but surely we can’t start him just on the hope he might score, but then over the seasons we have had plenty of other strikers brought in that have failed to hit the target or cause upset to other teams defence and we have started them in the hope they may finally score
I’ve had enough of people trying to justify the inclusion of Pablo, as a striker he’s a fraud and he will never be a talent at a high level.
Look at his shot ratio and worse still his shots on goal, one assist in 35 games is woeful, get rid in January and sign a decent striker to partner Taty or Joel.
Pablo looks Championship and so does Scarles…
Totally unfair comparison. Scarles has played well this season and reasonably well last season in the Premier League. Comparing him to Pablo, who is as unproductive as I’ve ever seen a player (the underlying numbers are STAGGERING) is just not fair to the lad. He’s not flash like Diouf was, so he won’t bring in a 40m sale, but he’s a good solid defender who is still improving.
Scarles is prone to mistakes, rarely has anything more than average to offer and frankly looks very Championship.