West Ham produced their best performance of the season to date as they defeated Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth by four goals to nil – their largest winning margin in the Premier League in over a decade. New manager David Moyes got off to the perfect start dramatically raising his side’s performance from what it had been in recent weeks under former boss Manuel Pellegrini. Though one player, in particular, should come under question for his attitude and commitment which took a dramatic upturn on New Year’s Day.
Felipe Anderson, rated £40.5m, had been struggling of late in the Premier League and the winger had not found the back of the net in 17 appearances this season – looking terribly short on confidence. The Brazilian only had a single assist to his name in his previous ten appearances which was a significant decline on last season’s nine goals and four assists. Though during his 68 minutes against the Cherries, he appeared reborn and it brings his attitude into question how he was suddenly able to turn his performances around so quickly.
In his previous ten performances before the vital Bournemouth relegation clash, Anderson had averaged a rating of 6.8, that score was dramatically increased by a man of the match performance in a defeat to Wolves and an assist in the loss to Leicester City. However, against Eddie Howe’s struggling side, the Brazilian was able to raise his game significantly enough to earn an 8.1 match rating.
Further evidence comes in the form of having failed to provide a single goal or assist in the ten games between the Hammer’s visit to Bournemouth and defeat to Leicester City. All of a sudden with a new manager at the helm Anderson is back up and running, and it is a symptom the entire West Ham squad suffers with and part of the reason Moyes has had to return.
The most significant task facing the returning boss is to keep his best players from becoming streaky; as much like New Year’s Day opponents Bournemouth, the Hammers often go on barren runs of form followed by sharp upturns. If they are to realise their ambition of achieving European football, then Moyes must make them more consistent, and that begins with making sure star players like Anderson have the right mentality.
