da leao： Ecuadorian World Cup hero, Enner Valencia, arguably hasn’t had quite the impact many were expecting of the new West Ham striker throughout the course of the 2014/15 season.
da pinup bet： The £12million man certainly had a great start to life in the Premier League, scoring several impressive goals against the likes of Hull City, Burnley and Stoke City respectively – yet since the turn of the year – the Hammers no. 31 has seemingly paid witness to a rather forgetful period much like the rest of his Upton Park teammates.
The blame for such an outcome admittedly doesn’t lie exclusively at the feet of Enner Valencia in this instance, but because West Ham ultimately haven’t received great value for money from the front-man on the basis of this season alone, the South American favourite still has a great deal of work to do in the English game.
As a result of this, it seemed somewhat unbelievable that Jose Mourinho’s title winning Chelsea outfit reportedly registered an interest in the Ecuadorian last January. As is usually the case in the often logic-less world of modern day transfer talk and speculation however, such reports have seemingly continued to surface in the run up to the 2015/16 season.
So, will West Ham ultimately hold onto their recently acquired striker at least for the foreseeable future, or does Enner Valencia in-fact offer something rather valuable to this current Chelsea side?
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For those who have watched the front-man on a regular basis this season, the answer to the latter part of that question could well be a surprising, yes. Ultimately his performances this term don’t indicate any form of world class status brimming under the surface of Enner Valencia with all things considered, yet through his often unpredictable approach, the forward nevertheless still has something different about his overall game.
The 2014 Ecuadorian World Cup star – who scored every goal for his nation at last summer’s finals in Brazil – can sometimes pull certain tricks out the bag that few see coming. His potential goal of the season against Hull City last year proved that Valencia has one hell of a shot on him, especially from a dead ball, but when it comes to running the channels for the whole 90 minutes, hustling down defenders in the final third, and offering his team an unpredictable outlet on many different occasions – Enner Valencia certainly brings his fair share to the table.
2014/15 was his first year in European football after all, so even though the South American didn’t quite live up to his £12million price tag last term, he definitely gave as good as he had when you consider that the striker has only experienced the Ecuadorian Primera A and the Mexican Liga MX in club football before.
Jose Mourinho could therefore well be eying up a future talent in Enner Valencia with a bit more Premier League experience under his belt.
However, even though this particular rumour has managed to maintain its place in the sports headlines into the summer transfer window, it remains a story that doesn’t likely have a great deal behind it. In the cold light of day, West Ham’s 25-year-old front-man is simply nowhere near the level of quality Chelsea require ahead of the 2015/16 campaign.
Unlike his fellow strike partner down at Upton Park this season, the recently acquired Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia has often proved somewhat of a liability on the final third. His overall ball control needs a great deal of work going into the new season, his prowess in one-on-one situations has left a lot to be desired on occasion – and through his seeming inability to play out-wide on the flanks – Jose Moruinho ultimately wouldn’t be able to use the Ecuadorian as a versatile front-man.
With Diego Costa successfully holding down the solitary centre-forward spot at Stamford Bridge last term, Valencia really wouldn’t have much of a role to offer the Blues. Sam Allardyce, to his own detriment, often played him out wide last season in the hope of some improved performances from the South American – yet as Big Sam currently sits back without a managerial job on his hands – such a flawed tactic ultimately didn’t pay off for West Ham in 2014/15.
Valencia is an out-and-out striker and nothing more. With all things considered, the unpredictable 25-year-old would look truly out of place in this current Chelsea side – regardless of the potential on offer in future seasons.
West Ham therefore remain the best club for Enner Valencia to continue his trade and hopefully become the player many Hammers fans expected him to be upon his initial arrival at the club last summer.
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