So there is new kid on the block at West Ham, by the name of Grady Diangana who is 20 years of age, to be honest I had not heard of him at all until he first came into the frame against Macclesfield scoring twice. He was not mentioned as I recall on the West Ham pod I listen to, for those Hammers that are interested listen to that via @westhamway and also @exWHUemployee for discussion and info on the club.
So since that cup game he came on as sub after Yarmelenko was injured, he has taken his chance well from the games which I have gone to and seen him play in he has always shown good energy, playing wide as a winger but also tracking back, against Burnley more improvement and confidence could be seen, as well as being tricky he was getting into the box and looking to create chances, earning himself an assist, he is growing in confidence which from listening to the West Ham pod was something that was holding him back.
Here is some quotes from Pellegrini which I think say all that is needed to be known this is quoted from football.London’s website but can be found elsewhere.
‘I trust in him, because for me one of the most important thing for me as a player is that when you have the ball you give it to a player in the same colour shirt’.
So as much a vote of no confidence in some of the players that may be seen as threats to his place.
Pellegrini goes on to say ‘This is the basic thing for a player, and Diangana always starts with that, he loses very few balls during the game. Every payer, when you receive the ball, has different solutions, bad or good, he always has the best solution’.
I think in this season he will be a player in the first team squad and playing lots of games,
So pretty much a glowing reference from the manager, I think in FPL terms at 4.5M you have an attacking player who whilst Yarmelenko is out is going to be first choice in that position.
Within in the FPL community I’ve seen a lot of interest and overdone threats on rotation from the likes of Noble, Snodgrass, Antonio and Wilshire, I don’t consider these threats which I will detail further one by one why not, the other ‘ threat’s not really mentioned would be Hernandez and Lanzini but that is going to depend more on formation played, in the case of Lanzini he wont be back this side of Xmas and is not even training with the squad so is some way off a return. Hernandez offers a partial threat if West Ham are behind and a formation change is required going with 2 forwards but he won’t start ahead of Diangana.
Players touted as rotation threats and FPL prices
Snodgrass 5.3 – hardworking and has turned around his West Ham career, but is preferred more in the centre, takes corners even with Anderson on the pitch in the burley game, less likely to start on either wing unless an injury, not yet back to the FPL days when at Hull a few years back.
Noble 5.3- Captain but is a central mid, not guaranteed his place at the minute.
Antonio 6.8 – if you saw his play these days in a game you could laugh at the suggestion that he is a threat to anybody right now.
Wilshire 4.8 – since his injury the Hammers have been improving results and performances so can’t see him back in the team and starting for some time yet, and not a direct threat to Diangana.
Summary
At 4.5 Diangana is a no brainer for FPL teams, mainly considered as budget enabler in that category I don’t think you can do much better at that price, a young attacking player backed by his manager in a team just outside the top half with a very good set of fixtures bar the Man City came in the next GW. I think you can wait until the Man City game I will be interested to see if he starts that one due to tactical changes rather than anything else, but fully expect starts again thereafter if not.
Unfortunately, I’ve gone another route and at the moment I don’t have a space for him but that may change in the next 2 or 3 GW’s.
Any questions or opinions reach me on twitter and keep listening to the PlanetFPLPod for help assistance, and of course the usual nonsense from James and Suj 😉.