If Family Fortunes asked one hundred people to name the most skilful, trickiest footballer at West Ham United, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville would surely earn you a healthy number of points.
Captain Jarrod Bowen may be less flicks and more finesse, but no Premier League full-back wants to be caught one-v-one with the West Ham United talisman.
Summerville fancies himself as something of an entertainer, meanwhile. A certain mercurial Brazilian too, although some Hammers fans would rather Lucas Paqueta do the simple things than risk coughing up possession in dangerous areas with an ill-advised backheel.
Left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, hpwever, had another name in mind when asked by the Premier League’s official YouTube channel to name the ‘trickster’ in this West Ham squad.
How far can Malick Diouf go? And what does he need to do to become a world-class left-back?
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While Bowen stands out for his ‘first touch’ and his ‘finesse’, according to Diouf, while Max Kilman stands out for his ‘long passes’, Soungoutou Magassa for his ‘interceptions’ and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for his ‘slide tackles’, the Senegal international insists that Freddie Potts’ stylish swagger does not go unnoticed at Rush Green.
El Hadji Malick Diouf names Freddie Potts as West Ham United’s ‘trickster’
Going back to that arguably quite tortured Family Fortunes metaphor, responding to Les Dennis with an answer of ‘Freddie Potts’ would possibly be a surefire way of incurring that iconic buzzer.
The 22-year-old is more renowned for his energy, his maturity, and his reliability, perhaps more than anything else. But, as Diouf’s response indicates, do not underestimate Potts’ ability to bamboozle high-pressing opposition with a clever shimmy or a neat piece of footwork.
There is arguably nobody better in Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad when it comes to receiving the ball under pressure and breaking the lines.
Potts is living the ‘dream’ at his boyhood club.
Such is the speed in which the Barking-born dynamo has cemented a starting berth, it is easy to forget that he only made his first appearance in the West Ham XI five weeks ago.
“I keep saying it to people, but it really is it really has been my dream since I was five,” Potts told Premier League productions shortly after the breakout performance in the 3-1 victory over Newcastle.
“I joined the club when I was five and for me the goal was always to be in the Premier League with this team and follow in the footsteps of, you know, Mark Noble and Declan Rice. And now I’m doing that.
“It’s just the dream and I want it to continue and I’m going to do everything I can to try and keep holding my shirt and keep playing. So, I’m looking forward to what’s going to happen.”
George Earthy may be the next in line to emulate Potts and establish himself in the first-team, although Ezra Mayers, Mohamadou Kante and Callum Marshall may have a say in that. All three have made Premier League debuts since Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Graham Potter at the end of September.
George Earthy certainly is the best young prospect at West Ham. What more does he need to do for Nuno to give him game time?
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Veteran striker Callum Wilson, who will be hoping to return to the XI when West Ham host Manchester City on Sunday, believes that is Potts’ drive to improve that really makes him stand out, meanwhile.
“He gave one ball away [in training] that, by his standards, he shouldn’t give away,” Wilson told the Daily Mail, beginning an anecdote which epitomises Potts’ fearsome determination.
“He got mad at himself. I just said, ‘You’ve played unbelievable, relax! That’s one pass. Everyone makes mistakes’.”
No one could accuse Nuno of making a ‘mistake’, though, when he put his faith in a young man his predecessor Graham Potter never seemed willing to bet upon.
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