It’s not easy to have an honest conversation about West Ham’s £47m strike force of Pablo and Taty but right now, it’s not adding up. These are two players with an exceptional work rate and attitude, which makes it difficult to criticise them in any way. After all, their fight and spirit have been crucial to the Hammers’ improvement since January.
This isn’t about effort. It’s not about attitude. In fact, if anything, that’s the frustrating part. Both forwards are giving everything in a West Ham shirt. The work rate is there, the running is there, the willingness is there.
But at [Premier League](https://www.claretandhugh.info/premier-league-bio/) level, when Summerville is missing, it seems that isn’t enough.
System failing £47m forwards
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Taty Castellanos looks exactly what I suspected he might be—a jack of all trades, master of none. He’s decent at everything without being exceptional at anything. For a £27m striker, that’s a problem.
Then there’s Pablo.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for him. His work rate is outstanding, his physicality is useful, but beyond that, there are serious limitations. He is, quite clearly, a target man. Nothing more, nothing less.
So why on earth is he being played out wide?
From a West Ham perspective, this is where the frustration really kicks in. Pablo doesn’t have the pace to beat a full-back, the technical ability to link play in tight areas, or the delivery to operate as a winger. Asking him to do that is setting him up to fail.
And fail he has—not through lack of effort, but through poor utilisation.
This is where Nuno Espírito Santo has to come under real scrutiny. After all, it was him who placed all of his chips on red with these two and, in terms of application, they haven’t let him down.
Because while the players aren’t blameless, the system isn’t helping them either. These are two forwards who might function in a specific setup—one as a focal point, the other buzzing around with support from quick, creative wide players like [Bowen](https://www.claretandhugh.info/jarrod-bowen-bio/) or Summerville.
Take one of those components away, and the whole thing collapses.
That’s exactly what we’ve seen.
West Ham didn’t spend £47m on runners. We spent it on goals, on moments, on quality. And right now, that cutting edge just isn’t there. I don’t say this in hindsight, but Taty looks like a one-in-four striker and Pablo doesn’t look like scoring at all this season.
If the Hammers are to stay up, Nuno has to find a solution—and quickly.