4 Apr 2016

'He's Sensational': Carra hails £30m attacking 'maestro' Liverpool tried to sign. 'Player of the Year'?

West Ham 'maestro' Dimitri Payet continued his scintillating form this week with a fabulous goal for France (against Russia), and according to Reds legend Jamie Carragher, the 'sensational' attacker is in the running for the 'Player of the Year' award.

In his column for the Daily Mail today, Carra raved:

"There is no doubt he [Payet] will be on the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award. It has been a joy to watch Payet play this season. He has set the Premier League alight".

Liverpool tried to sign Payet in the distant past, and Carra confirmed this earlier in the season:

"Payet has captured the imagination. I know Liverpool looked at him five years ago when he played for Saint-Etienne".

Liverpool were linked with Payet - now reportedly worth £30m - during Roy Hodgson's reign, and at the time, the Daily Mail reported:

"Saint-Etienne have warned Liverpool off a move for Dimitri Payet".

It's a good thing that Liverpool didn't sign Payet at that time as it's doubtful he would've prospered during a period of such intense turmoil at the club. I doubt he'd prosper under Jurgen Klopp, either.

At West Ham, Payet is given the freedom to play his natural game, but at Liverpool, his skill and creativity would almost certainly be curtailed by Klopp's obsession with running and pressing. Additionally, brainwashed LFC fans would be blaming Payet for underperforming, rather than questioning Klopp for failing to utilise him properly.

Payet doesn't run himself into the ground for West Ham - he's allowed to focus on doing what he does best (i.e. attacking/running the game) and looks where it's got West Ham (who have significantly lower transfer spending/wage bill than Liverpool): ahead of LFC in the league table, and on the brink of breaking into the top four.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a good comparison here. Klopp signed the Armenian, but he didn't get the best out of him, and his incessant demand for physically draining running/pressing arguably *restricted* creativity. Under Klopp, Mkhitaryan averaged a goal/assist every 193 mins. With Klopp out of the picture, he now averages one every 93 mins (44 G/A in 43 games this season).

Coincidence? I think not. But I digress...

Payet will probably be in the running for 'Player of the Year', but if Leicester win the league, then surely one of either Mahrez, Vardy, or Kante has to win it...?

Author: Jaimie K


0 Comments:

Post a Comment