Ollie Scarles has admitted he is delighted to be getting regular football for West Ham, although his opportunity has arrived rather differently to how many of us probably expected.
The 20-year-old has now made seven appearances this season.
Speaking to the official West Ham website following the 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers, he said: “I feel good. All the boys have been brilliant with me, and of course I’m really happy to be getting regular minutes.”
Scarles has undoubtedly been one of the beneficiaries of El-Hadji Malick Diouf leaving the club.
It was quite clear during the summer that Nuno Espírito Santo wanted Diouf to be his first-choice left-back.
I certainly expected Scarles to spend this season as the understudy.
Instead, Diouf departed and West Ham were suddenly left scrambling for another option at left-back before eventually signing Adama Boiro on loan from Athletic Club.
Nuno Clearly Trusts Scarles
The interesting thing is that Scarles hasn’t simply been thrown into the team because there was nobody else.
Nuno used him last season and I think it’s quite clear that he does trust him.
There have certainly been some shaky performances along the way, but that’s hardly unusual for a 20-year-old learning his trade.
Against Bolton, I thought he was solid defensively.
Boiro will provide competition for Ollie Scarles
West Ham were seriously tested for long periods, but Scarles handled his defensive work pretty well.
He also acknowledged just how difficult this division can be.
“Tonight’s game shows how there aren’t any easy games in the Championship,” said Scarles.
He’s right.
West Ham are beginning to find some rhythm and have now won three Championship games on the spin.
But Bolton exposed enough weaknesses to show there is still plenty of work to do. That said, the way he dealt with Kyliane Dong after he’d switched flanks certainly showed Kyle Walker Peters how it should be done.
The Attacking Side Still Needs Work
For Scarles, I still think the attacking side of his game is where the biggest improvement needs to come.
Defensively he looked far more assured at Bolton.
But as a modern left-back, you need to offer something going forward as well.
Interestingly, I’m not even convinced left-back will eventually be his best position.
Longer term, I can see Scarles developing into the left-sided centre-back in a back three.
He has the defensive qualities for it and, at his age, there is still plenty of development to come.
For now, though, Diouf’s departure has presented him with an opportunity far bigger than I expected him to receive this season.
So far, he’s doing enough to keep Nuno interested.
Potential was always the bi-word associated with Diouf. Yet he’s exactly the same age group as Scarles and is way behind Scarles as a defender. Diouf’s reading of the game, his positioning and tackling was woeful and so far behind Scarles. Yes, Diouf had a wonderful cross on him. But why is it that we look at a guy with one decent attribute and say he has potential to improve his defensive capabilities rather than look at a player already at the club, who already has defensive instincts but could do with adding some attacking ability. Surely being able to teach someone how to cross a ball is far, far easier than waiting for a player to discover how to gain the instincts of basic defending, none of which he has displayed at the age of 20!
It’s a plain case of being swayed by agent spiel
I wish Scarles well, but I’m afraid that I fail to see any real standout quality in any aspect of his game.
Defensively, he has a howler in him. He gets caught ball-watching time and time again. Positionally, he’s poor. He picks up needless yellow cards by being beaten and turned easily.
Going forwards, his crosses are often poor. He usually passes backwards and sideways, too. The safe options.
He also lacks athleticism and pace which are so important in modern-age football.
I don’t want to sound over-critical, and I’d love to be proved wrong, but I envisage Scarles being a League One or Two player, at best, and possibly even National League or lower.
I’ve watched enough football over the decades to see the potential of players, and I’m afraid that Scarles is limited to say the least.
As a left-back, Mayers, for me, has far more potential from what I’ve watched of him.
People seem to be overly critical of Scarles, he is 20 years old and has held his own so far this season. A couple of mistakes, that all defenders make, (look at Mav & Walker Peters), and people are on his back. He is very solid and doing more right than wrong. Mayers has potential but is not ready yet.
This is an incredibly definitive judgement to make on a 20-year-old who has barely started his senior career.
The irony is that “he doesn’t have much standout quality” isn’t necessarily the damning assessment you seem to think it is. Plenty of excellent full-backs weren’t obviously elite talents at 19 or 20. Gary Neville wasn’t some freakishly gifted athlete or attacking phenomenon. His career was built on positioning, discipline, intelligence, consistency and gradually developing his game. He eventually won everything there was to win and won 85 England caps.
Ashley Cole at 20 wasn’t the finished article either. He’d made only 17 Premier League starts in 2000/01 and was still establishing himself at Arsenal. He went on to become arguably the best left-back England has produced.
And Andy Robertson is an even better example. At 20, he had only just moved from Queen’s Park to Dundee United. His own coaches were surprised by how rapidly he progressed, and he was still learning the position after having originally played further forward. Within a few years he was a Champions League and Premier League winner.
That’s the point: you’re assessing Scarles’ current limitations as though they’re his ceiling.
Yes, he makes mistakes. Yes, his positioning needs work. Yes, he can be conservative in possession. Yes, he isn’t blessed with blistering pace. None of those observations remotely establish that he’ll be a League One player, let alone National League level.
He’s 20, has already played Premier League football for West Ham and is currently getting regular Championship minutes. This season alone he’s started five of West Ham’s first six league games. That’s not evidence of a player destined for non-league; it’s evidence of a young full-back being trusted to develop at a very high level.
You may ultimately be right about his ceiling. That’s football. But “I don’t currently see a standout attribute” and “therefore he’ll probably end up in League One or below” are two completely different arguments.
And I’d be particularly careful about using athleticism as a reason to write him off. Players can become stronger, sharper and more tactically intelligent. They can improve their positioning to compensate for a lack of elite pace. They can improve their crossing and decision-making through thousands of repetitions.
At 20, I’d be asking whether there is enough there to work with, not demanding the finished product.
The fact that another young left-back currently looks more naturally talented doesn’t mean Scarles can’t develop into the better footballer. Football history is littered with players who looked ordinary at 20 and considerably less ordinary a few years later.