Aaron Cresswell got a close up view of Felipe Anderson’s incredible form last Saturday after winning his place back in the team over Artuhur Masuaku.
And it confirmed what he has been seeing on the training ground for some weeks whilst the player has continued to frustrate Hammers fans with a series of performances bordering on deep concern given his price tag.
That he was marquee signing so centrally required by the manager on his arrival became an issue of deep confusion among the fans as the Brazilian appeared to be unable to do anything correctly, from dribbling to set piece taking.
Let’s not mince our words here – he looked absolutely awful and one began to wonder whether Lazio hadn’t played a superbly clever game in keeping us waiting weeks before finally, and apparently very reluctantly, taking an offer which beat our transfer record by a considerable margin.
Finally however it all came good in one blinding 90 minutes and Cressie for one was incredibly impressed and relieved having seen what he’s all about at Rush Green.
He told www.whufc.com: “A lot of people won’t see Felipe Monday to Friday and what he does in training,”“Especially coming from Brazil and coming from a totally different league in Serie A, it definitely takes some time to adapt.
“With the money in the game these days, when you come with a certain price tag, you don’t get that time, but on Saturday he was fantastic, both providing and scoring goals, and hopefully that can continue.”
It was well publicised before we bought him, that he went completely awol regularly in games, but obviously Pellegrini believed he could change him radically. Well now we should find out if he will succeed. By the end of the season we will know how much he has been changed.