Graham Potter apparently hasn’t got any faith ion one West Ham United player in particular.
West Ham were knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa on Friday night, but there were so many positives to take from Graham Potter‘s first match in charge.
I actually think we were really unfortunate to lose against Villa, and Ian Wright blamed referee Tim Robinson after his awful decision to award the hosts a corner just before their equaliser.
It is what it is though. We’re out of the cup, but that could be a blessing in disguise for Potter. He will now have more time on the training ground with his players between now and the end of the season.
There is clearly a lot of work to be done at the London Stadium, with the mess that has been left behind by Julen Lopetegui.
Positive change won’t happen overnight, but the early signs are that the future will be bright and prosperous under Potter.
With that in mind, I found the latest pot-shot from one particular journalist to be a little bit harsh to say the least.
Journalist says Graham Potter doesn’t have faith in West Ham man
Potter has a decent squad at his disposal at the London Stadium right now.
However, there is definitely a need to make further additions in the summer, and he has admitted that himself.
In spite of that, there are plenty of talented youngsters at West Ham who Potter will be keeping a close eye on.
One reporter took an unnecessary swipe at one of them though.
According to Daily Mail journalist James Sharpe, Potter showed a clear lack of faith in West Ham youngster Luis Guilherme at Villa Park on Friday night.
“Summerville looked to pick up a knock in the first half, too, and was replaced at half-time. Potter chose to bring on Vladimir Coufal at right-back and push Wan-Bissaka up to right wing.“
“Hardly the greatest show of faith in Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme, a £25million summer signing, who remained on the bench.“
“When his side went behind, he replaced youngster Scarles with Aaron Cresswell – an odd choice when searching for an equaliser.“
I actually think that’s really unfair on both Potter and Guilherme.
Luis Guilherme a work in progress, but a risk nonetheless
The former Palmeiras winger, signed for £25 million in the summer, has only been given 43 minutes of action for the Hammers all season long.
Bringing him on at half-time for the injured Summerville would not have worked on two different levels.
Firstly, Guilherme is a left-footed right winger, so the complete opposite to Summerville.
Secondly, Potter would have wanted to progress through to the fourth round, so why would he have brought Guilherme – a complete unknown commodity – into the fold at half-time.
And what about the fact that Potter may not have wanted to put Guilherme under unnecessary pressure by bringing him on at half-time in the melting pot that was a raucous Villa Park?
Young players need protecting sometimes.
Guilherme is only 18 . He moved form Brazil to England in the summer – a major life-changing moment for him.
We all have to be patient with the teenager. He may come good or he might not.
As West Ham fans, we can’t keep imploring the club to sign youngsters like Brighton or Brentford do, but then moan when they don’t look like the real deal instantly.
I’m all for the club making moves for youngsters with huge potential. My only problem with the Guilherme deal is that I feel as though we may have overpaid for him, and thus increasing the risk.
However, what I do know is that we all need to be patient with him.
Graham Potter doesn’t even know what Luis Guilherme has to offer yet, he had only been in charge of one training session at West Ham before the Aston Villa game for crying out loud!
I found the suggestion from Sharpe to be well wide of the mark if I’m honest.
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