Shades of Rice: Nuno can fix Paqueta blow by unleashing £17m West Ham star
The final international break of the year came at the worst time possible for West Ham United.
After months of dire football and worse results, Nuno Espírito Santo looked to have finally got a tune out of the East Londoner, beating Newcastle United and Burnley in back-to-back Premier League games.
Fortunately, the break has come to an end and the Hammers finally get the chance to continue their good form with a challenging game away to Bournemouth, albeit without the talismanic Lucas Paqueta, who is suspended.
However, while the loss of the Brazilian is a big one, Nuno can minimise its impact by letting Mateus Fernandes pick up the attacking slack and starting someone with shades of Declan Rice alongside Freddie Potts.
Why Fernandes should start in Paqueta's place
Now, in the last two games, Nuno has opted for a midfield three of Paqueta, Potts and Fernandes, with the Brazilian obviously playing as the more attacking midfielder of the three.
With him out of contention, it makes sense for the responsibility of being more forward-thinking to fall on the Portuguese star’s shoulders, as the Englishman is far better suited to being an all-action box-to-box type.
While this change might worry some fans, it shouldn’t, as while he’s not reached the level of the former Lyon ace just yet, he is more than capable of doing so.
For example, while he’s spent plenty of time in the central midfield role, he spent more time playing as an attacking midfielder during his time at Southampton.
Moreover, during his time in Portugal, respected analyst Ben Mattinson highlighted the fact that he could play “those KDB-type passes” with relative ease.
Furthermore, despite playing for a team that, for some time, looked in danger of breaking Derby County’s most unwanted record last season, the 21-year-old still produced six goal involvements in 36 league games.
Finally, FBref ranked him in the top 11% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the league last season for attempted and completed long passes as well as the top 14% for passes into the final third, all per 90.
Overall, Fernandes is more than good enough to pick up the creative slack in Paqueta’s absence, and Nuno has someone in the squad who can come in as a partner to Potts to help with the less glamorous side of the game.
The Rice-like midfielder Nuno should start
While Nuno might be tempted to bring someone like Tomáš Souček back into the side for this game, he really shouldn’t, as Bournemouth will make it an intense and frenetic encounter.
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Therefore, the manager should turn to someone capable of dealing with that, if not thriving in it, someone like £17m summer signing, Soungoutou Magassa.
The Frenchman is still relatively young and certainly needs to develop some areas of his game, but he has all the ingredients to be a monstrous all-action midfielder.
Described as a “a forward-thinking” talent by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, who is blessed with “pure athleticism” and can “spray passes wide out to the wings,” the 22-year-old would be excellent alongside Potts.
Moreover, his profile, combined with his ability to play centre-back, makes comparisons to a young Rice impossible to ignore.
With that said, if you are still unconvinced, you only need to look at his underlying numbers to see how promising a player he is.
For example, FBref ranks him in the top 1% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for tackles and blocks, the top 2% for ball recoveries, the top 4% for interceptions, the top 12% for switches, and more, all per 90.
Tackles
3.78
Top 1%
Tackles (Def 3rd)
1.72
Top 1%
Dribblers Tackled
2.05
Top 1%
Dribbles Challenged
3.86
Top 1%
Blocks
2.22
Top 1%
Tkl+Int
5.42
Top 1%
Ball Recoveries
7.31
Top 2%
Tackles (Att 3rd)
0.57
Top 4%
Shots Blocked
0.66
Top 4%
Passes Blocked
1.56
Top 4%
Interceptions
1.64
Top 4%
Tackles (Mid 3rd)
1.48
Top 8%
Shots on Target %
42.9%
Top 9%
Successful Take-On %
61.9%
Top 10%
Switches
0.66
Top 12%
Through Balls
0.41
Top 13%
Tackles Won
1.64
Top 13%
Successful Take-Ons
1.07
Top 13%
In other words, the “composed” midfielder, as dubbed by Mattinson, is superb when it comes to the defensive side of the game, but is also more than capable of kick-starting an attack from deep.
Ultimately, while it’s not ideal, Nuno should start a midfield three of Fernandes, Potts and Magassa against Bournemouth, as that should be the best way to deal with Paqueta’s absence and pick up three points.
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