DAVID ORNSTEIN SHARES LIKELY WEST HAM PLAN AFTER WHAT’S HAPPENED WITH LUCAS PAQUETA
LUCAS PAQUETA HAS BEEN LINKED WITH AN EXIT FROM WEST HAM FOR A WHILE NOW. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT THE BRAZILIAN WOULD LEAVE OVER THE SUMMER, WITH TOTTENHAM AND ASTON VILLA BOTH INTERESTED. HOWEVER, HE STAYED PUT AND HAS ENDURED A TURBULENT COUPLE OF MONTHS AT THE LONDON STADIUM.
WITH GRAHAM POTTER REPLACED BY NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO LATE LAST MONTH — AND NO WINS YET UNDER THE NEW BOSS — THE JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW IS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A CRUCIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR WEST HAM.
ACCORDING TO DAVID ORNSTEIN VIA THE BACK PAGES PODCAST ON OCTOBER 20, THE HAMMERS PLAN TO BACK NUNO IN JANUARY:
> “PAQUETA IS NOT MAKING THE SORT OF CONTRIBUTION THAT WE’VE COME TO KNOW HIM FOR. SO MAYBE THEY’LL BE TRYING TO GET THROUGH TO JANUARY AND GIVE NUNO SOME RECRUITMENT TO TRY AND BOOST THIS SEASON.”
PAQUETA HAS SCORED TWO PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS FROM 1.57 EXPECTED GOALS, WITH 1.4 KEY PASSES PER GAME AND 78% PASS ACCURACY. DEFENSIVELY, HE’S ALSO BEEN FAIRLY RELIABLE — AVERAGING 4.8 BALL RECOVERIES PER MATCH AND JUST ONE ERROR LEADING TO A SHOT.
OVERALL, PAQUETA’S FORM REFLECTS THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES MORE THAN HIS OWN — AND WITH NEW ADDITIONS EXPECTED IN JANUARY, WEST HAM WILL HOPE TO SEE HIM BACK TO HIS BEST.
