It's proving a tough task for Nuno Espirito Santo.placeholder image
It's proving a tough task for Nuno Espirito Santo. | Getty Images
Don Hutchison knows what it takes to be a success in West Ham’s midfield and he has claimed that Nuno Espirito Santo has a Declan Rice regen in his squad.
Despite sitting in the relegation places following Graham Potter’s dismal start to the campaign, the Irons are only nine points away from the Champions League places and six from mid-table safety. With back-to-back wins, optimism is slowly rising at the London Stadium with one player in particular a cause for excitement.
Have West Ham found their Declan Rice replacement?
The Hammers never truly replaced Declan Rice when he signed for Arsenal in a record deal, but according to former West Ham favourite Don Hutchison, there is already the perfect replacement available to Espírito Santo. He told London World: “Freddie Potts can 100 percent live up to the Declan Rice comparison. I was impressed with him in the pre-season. I thought he was really good.
“I get the comparisons, because if you look at the style and the profile, he's as tall as Declan. He can run like Declan. And I think where the comparisons are really fair is if you go back to Declan Rice when he first got into the side, Declan Rice's first 10 games and Freddie Potts’ first 10 games, they're actually quite similar.
“Declan Rice wasn't a standout player when he first got in the team. I think it was David Moyes that put him in. I think he might have put him in, if my memory is correct, as a centre-back and he actually made one or two mistakes and then people realised he was a midfield player.
“So the comparisons are not where Declan Rice is now at Arsenal and Freddie Potts is now. It's both of them back at the same age with the same number of appearances. That's where you'd like to think they look a little bit similar.”
Hutchison is right, Rice wasn’t the player he is now when he first broke into the starting XI, but it was clear that he had all the attributes needed to be a top player, a trait shared by Potts.
What the pundits have said about Potts’ impact for West Ham
Espirito Santo threw Potts in at the deep end for his first start in claret and blue against one of the best midfield’s in the country in Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United. The 22-year old academy graduate was one of the best players on the pitch and drew praise from the Match of the Day pundits in the process.
One of them knows exactly what it takes to be a success in West Ham’s midfield with Michael Carrick agreeing with Rob Green’s assessment of the youngster’s debut start: "Soucek and Irving in midfield as a defensive two haven't been able to do it for West Ham - he did it as a one."
"He played his position with real understanding," Carrick said, adding that Potts' performance was "disciplined and mature". Rice was never flashy or stood out because he had a penchant for the spectacular, it was because he did the basics well, protected his defence and linked the midfield to the attack. Nothing fancy, but exactly the sort of display that Carrick himself became appreciated for.
Continue Reading