West Ham United claimed their finest win of the Julen Lopetegui era before play paused to allow the stream of international action back through.
Now, it’s matchweek once again, and United are ready to make headway in the Premier League, though they will encounter some testing opponents over the coming weeks.
19/10/2024
Tottenham (A)
9th
27/10/2024
Man United (H)
14th
02/11/2024
Nott’m Forest (A)
10th
09/11/2024
Everton (H)
16th
25/11/2024
Newcastle (A)
7th
There’s plenty to be optimistic about at the London Stadium, but there’s no denying it’s been a rocky start. West Ham still need to unleash a top-class centre-forward to perform at full throttle.
West Ham lacking forward presence
Michail Antonio might have opened his account for the season against Ipswich, but the 34-year-old has trudged through most of the campaign, winning 21% of his duels, completing 23% of his dribbles and averaging seven successful passes per game, as per Sofascore.
His ostensible successor, the 31-year-old Niclas Fullkrug, is a hulking and surprisingly dynamic centre-forward, purchased from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £27m this summer. Alas, the German has endured an injury-hit start to life in London, yet to score, yet to assist.
Jarrod Bowen’s days of regularly moonlighting at number nine appear to be over – it’s for the good of the team, you see. He’s at his most effective on the right. West Ham need to map out a plan. And they are doing so, in fairness.
According to Football Insider, whose claim is made in conjunction with ex-Irons scout Mick Brown, Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis is on the club’s radar and could be targetted this January.
He signed for Benfica in an initial €18m (£15m) deal this summer and has started life in Portugal with aplomb, but you may know him better from last Friday when he silenced England at Wembley.
Vangelis Pavlidis' performance vs England
The man who toppled the long-standing Lee Carsley dynasty. Maybe not, but scoring a brace against England in their own backyard is still a mean feat.
Carsley’s experimental outfit fell flat, unravelled like a badly-wrapped present. Greece, though, were excellent and fully deserved to come away with three points and establish themselves as table-toppers in their Nations League Level B group – it’s a group that the Three Lions are expected to escape from.
Pavlidis’ clinical performance put his name on the map, opening the scoring after half-time with a fine strike past Jordan Pickford. Jude Bellingham, England’s go-to talisman, exploded into a roar of rapture after restoring parity late on, but the Greek forward left Wembley bewildered and beleaguered, firing true in the dying embers to score a historic victory.
West Ham’s technical director Tim Steidten is bound to have noted the display, with the Hammers looking at the 25-year-old earlier in the year, before ultimately moving to sign Fullkrug.
While West Ham’s new focal frontman has all the qualities in the locker to forge a successful career for himself under Lopetegui’s leadership, there’s little question that Pavlidis would bring a contrasting skillset to potentially propel the side back into the limelight.
Why Vangelis Pavlidis would be perfect for West Ham
Pavlidis joined Benfica from Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar this summer, and he’s started his life in Liga Portugal very well indeed, carrying over the prolific edge that had seen him plunder 33 goals and six assists across 46 appearances in all competitions last term.
He hasn’t quite hit the same vein of form for Benfica, though has notched two goals and two assists apiece over nine games.
This isn’t the most mesmerising of hauls, for sure, but his underlying metrics accentuate the wonderful skillset, with an average of 2.3 key passes and 1.6 dribbles per league match, as per Sofascore, while only missing three big chances, highlighting an efficiency in front of goal, albeit not striking with the greatest consistency – it’s no wonder he’s been described as a “real handful” by journalist Antonio Mango.
As per FBref, the 6 foot 1 striker actually ranks among the top 11% of positional peers across divisions similar to the Portuguese top flight for goals scored, the top 8% for shot-creating actions, the top 5% for passes attempted, the top 19% for progressive passes, the top 11% for progressive carries and the top 18% for tackles per 90.
Quite the multi-functioning player, eh? His dynamism could be the missing ingredient at the London Stadium, complementing the clutch striking of Fullkrug and raising the skillsets of other attack-minded players – like Mohammed Kudus.
Kudus hasn’t enjoyed the finest start to the season, but he’s still one of the most dangerous wingers in the Premier League. Pace and power in his strides, the Ghanaian was called “different gravy” by The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas. It’s quite an apt comment, to be honest.
1.
Mohammed Kudus
West Ham
124
2.
Jeremy Doku
Man City
87
3.
Bruno Guimaraes
Newcastle
72
4.
Ebere Eze
Crystal Palace
69
5.
Luis Diaz
Liverpool
67
The crux of Kudus’ problems is that he’s not clinical enough, only posting one goal and one assist across nine fixtures in all competitions this season, also averaging just 0.7 key passes per Premier League game.
He needs to raise his game. However, by adding Pavlidis into the equation, this high-class footballer could hit the purple patch that is within his capability, breezing past his opponents and getting himself into more positions of promise than he has achieved recently, for Pavlidis’ creative spark and all-encompassing nature could elevate his game.
West Ham have already profiled Pavlidis and must consider fixing their full focus on him in 2025. He’s only 25 and could be the long-term solution to the never-ending question surrounding number nine in east London.
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