Graham Potter may well be wishing that David Moyes didn’t sell one player in particular during his West Ham United tenure.
David Moyes left West Ham at the end of last season, and was replaced by Julen Lopetegui, before Graham Potter eventually took over from the Spaniard six months later.
After the Everton vs West Ham clash on Saturday, David Moyes admitted that he’s been impressed by how defensively sound Graham Potter’s team is now.
Aside from the defensive improvements though, there hasn’t been too much to get excited about.
The fact of the matter is that Potter hasn’t got his own set of players yet. That will take at least two summer transfer windows to completely address.
However, his job would have been made a whole lot easier, had Moyes not got rid of one player in particular on the cheap.
Graham Potter suggests star David Moyes sold would be perfect for him
Potter spoke to reporters after the game against Everton, and highlighted the need for more control from his players, as quoted by WHUFC.com:
“We needed that second goal, I think, because Everton make it difficult for you with the atmosphere here and the situation with them moving to a new stadium and not so many games left at Goodison.
“So the crowd got involved and it’s hard to control.“
Whilst there have been small improvements since Potter took over, there has still been a distinct lack of control in the middle of the park.
That’s because we haven’t got any central midfielders who are comfortable on the ball.
I have a sneaky suspicion that Pablo Fornals would have flourished under Potter at West Ham.
Pablo Fornals spoke very highly of David Moyes during his time with the Hammers.
However, the Spaniard left West Ham to join Real Betis in January 2024 for around £6.7 million (Daily Mail).
Perhaps selling him was a big mistake from the Hammers though.
It’s well-known that Potter likes his teams to control possession of the football.
The 49-year-old sets up his sides to keep hold of the ball in the middle of the park, and subsequently control the tempo of the game from there.
Why Pablo Fornals is so perfect for a Graham Potter system
I think Fornals would have been ideal for the Hammers right now. He could have played in a deeper role alongside Edson Alvarez in order to give us more control in possession.
The 28-year-old also has the engine required to make those lung-bursting runs into the opposition’s half.
In 16 La Liga games for Real Betis this season, Fornals has made 632 passes, 93 of which have been progressive passes, for a total distance of 3,025 yards (FBREF).
For some reason, Moyes completely jettisoned the former Villarreal ace from the starting XI during his final 18 months at the London Stadium.
That was a big mistake in my opinion. Sure, he put in plenty of disappointing performances for the Hammers, but in fairness to him, he was often shunted out on the left wing.
Had Pablo Fornals had the opportunity to work under Graham Potter at West Ham, I think we would have seen a much better player than the one we saw whilst David Moyes was in charge.
