Lucas Paquetá has lifted the lid on his recent upturn in form, which has seen him arguably become Graham Potter’s most influential player.
The arrival of the Hammers’ new head coach has transformed the Brazilian playmaker from liability into a goal-scoring man-of-the-match winner. Paquetá has been strutting around the pitch recently, displaying tricks, flicks, and a swagger that seemed to have deserted him for over a year.
But the playmaker’s comments about his new boss have confirmed what everyone can see with their own eyes… he’s enjoying his football again.
“The trust he [Potter] gave me from the first day gave me a lot of confidence. The ideas are very clear, organised – simple for us to understand,” claimed the Irons’ record signing.
“We understand each other more and can put into practice what he’s been asking of us.”
Paquetá is not the first to praise Potter’s clear ideas, organisation, and communication, prompting us to wonder just how bad things were before. But with everything else going on behind the scenes with investigations and betting scandals, it’s great to see the player so focused on his football and enjoying life again
Considering Potter tinkers with his system more than any other manager in the PL his players seem to be able to understand what he is doing and why, which is a great compliment to his coaching.
I’ll settle for Potter’s ‘tinkering’ or flexibility over Moyes’s dour negative pragmatism or Lopetegui’s chaosball any day.