Player Focus: Impressive Lanzini Quickly Becoming West Ham’s Jewel
The decision to replace Sam Allardyce a year before moving into the Olympic Stadium suddenly didn’t feel like the right play when West Ham were dumped out of the Europa League by Romanian side Astra Giurgiu before the Premier League had even started. Since then, however, victories away to Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Crystal Palace and at home to Chelsea on Saturday have left them two points off top spot.
Their extraordinary start to the campaign makes it hard for West Ham fans not to dream of moving into their new home with the prospect of European football, but it’s worth remembering they were also in the top four as late as Christmas before their season unravelled last year. Nevertheless, you sense the Hammers are far better equipped this time around.
Dimitri Payet has been credited as the driving force behind their meteoric start to the season. The Frenchman was regarded as a coup when West Ham signed him for £10.7m over the summer and his breathtaking performances only make you wonder why more teams weren’t in for him. As it stands, only two players have played a direct hand in more goals than Payet (8), and only Mesut Ozil (42) has created more goalscoring chances than the former Marseille creator-in-chief (41) in England's top-flight.
However, the foundations of West Ham’s early season success extend beyond the creativity of Payet. Enner Valencia was the fan favourite at the Boleyn Ground this time last season, but so much has changed since then that the Ecuador international may now struggle to even get in Slaven Bilic’s starting line up when everyone is available for selection.
A summer of upheaval included nearly a dozen new faces arriving at West Ham and Bilic is quickly discovering he has match winners all over the pitch. The Hammers were able to take players from the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal, Marseille and Juventus in the off-season, but it’s one of their less familiar faces that is quickly endearing himself to the supporters.
Unlike the media fanfare that followed Payet’s arrival, there was little hype when Manuel Lanzini touched down from Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates. However, his early season performances would suggest David Gold and David Sullivan would be wise to tie up the Argentine on a permanent deal sooner rather than later.
The former Argentina U20 international’s latest display against Chelsea was packed with the sort of craft, intelligence and awareness you would expect from a player accustomed to the rigours of the Premier League, not one that has just spent the last year in the Middle East.
Lanzini, nicknamed 'The Jewel', completed more dribbles than any other player (5) - including Payet (2) - misplaced just four of his 32 passes (88% pass success rate) and even made a vital clearance off the line just as it appeared Kurt Zouma had drawn Chelsea level. Mauro Zarate finished as the WhoScored man of the match (7.93 rating), but Lanzini ran him a close second (7.73).
It was no one off. He's been doing it all season and his performances are already starting to earn glowing endorsements from his manager. "I have never seen a player who reminds me of Luka Modric as much as Manuel Lanzini," said Bilic in his London Evening Standard column last week, having previously compared his style to David Silva's. That's some hybrid!
Lanzini still has a long way to go before being earning the right to be regarded in their company, but it's certainly not a bad starting point, and you can already see where Bilic is coming from.
When in possession, Lanzini rarely concedes it. The Argentine is the most accurate passer at the club (87.6%) and is also among the top 25 in the division – above the likes of Eden Hazard, Yaya Toure and Bastian Schweinsteiger – of those to have started at least half of the 10 league matches thus far. Additionally, Lanzini has only been dispossessed five times in eight appearances, compared to Payet who has been robbed of possession more than three times that amount (17), accentuating his statistically calculated strength of ‘holding on to the ball'.
“What I do know is he is making our other players better,” Bilic continued, revealing more behind what kind of player West Ham have on their books. Lanzini’s influence in the final third has been particularly noticeable and it had been this sort of positivity that fans felt was missing during the bulk of Allardyce’s tenure.
Lanzini averages more dribbles per game than any other teammate (2.5) and only two West Ham players have averaged more forward passes and successful final third passes per game than the midfielder (20.9 & 9.9, respectively), while only Payet (4.5 per game) is joining play together with more regularity via accurate lay-offs than the former River Plate graduate (1.5).
Not only that, but Lanzini has also shown a desire to help out defensively, where he averages the same amount of tackles per game as defenders James Collins and Carl Jenkinson (1.5).
In Bilic’s mind there had never been any doubt over Lanzini’s ability. The 47-year-old had been tracking him during his two-year stint as Besiktas manager before replacing Allardyce at West Ham, but even he admits he's been blown away by how quickly Lanzini hass settled.
“I am only surprised that he hit it off straight away,” Bilic said. “I thought he was going to need more time because last year he played in the Emirates with Al Jazira. It’s a good level but you can’t compare that with the Premier League. He’s a phenomenal player, a really quality player and feels comfortable when he is on the pitch.”
What's exciting for West Ham fans is that you sense this is only the beginning for Lanzini.
Can Lanzini continue his superb early season form? Let us know in the comments below
