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West Ham United fans have been divided over their Brazilian star Felipe Anderson this season.

The attacker has been accused of lacking form and even desire as West Ham have drifted into a relegation battle.

One of the stars of the Premier League in his debut campaign last term, Anderson has struggled to live up to expectations this time around.

They often say the second season is more difficult and that has been the case for West Ham’s fleet-footed attacker.

Anderson getting the Fornals treatment at West Ham

But now Anderson seems to be getting the Pablo Fornals treatment at West Ham.

Hammers fans will remember the claims leaked to certain sections of the media – such as The Guardian and Claret & Hugh – that West Ham’s owners were unhappy with previous manager Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos over the £24million signing of Fornals.

But many West Ham fans had seen enough in glimpses – and for Spain in the European Under 21 Championships last summer – to know they had a player on their hands. Fornals, like so many new to the English game, struggled at first and needed time to adapt.

Those media reports looked laughable a couple of months on when Fornals emerged as West Ham’s best player during a difficult winter period.

Supporters were baffled when he was frozen out by David Moyes on his return to the club.

But he has forced his way back into the side and is now a certain starter after a goal and two assists in the last one and a half games.

Despite being out for six weeks through injury Anderson was criticised by some fans for his display against Liverpool.

Site claims Moyes doesn’t fancy ‘lazy’ Brazilian

And he was dropped for the win over Southampton.

Claret & Hugh have claimed Anderson’s absence ‘may be very significant’ in an article which also suggests Moyes does not fancy the Brazilian one bit.

“More and more it’s being noticed that this is a guy who tends to back away from 50/50s and marginally worse challenges and that’s not going to sit well with this particular manager,” C&H claims.

But the statistics show that simply isn’t true.

West Ham have thrown away a league high 24 points from winning positions this season.

Had they had even half those points right now, they already be safe and in the mix for European qualification.

The common theme in many of those games? The withdrawal of Anderson. Liverpool the latest case in point. West Ham were 2-1 up, Anderson came off and they lost 3-2.

He has been the go-to sub for Pellegrini and now Moyes. That in itself suggests all is not well.

But the stats show Anderson is putting a shift in.

When he was out injured Anderson showed his dedication by training hard throughout the inaugural winter break.

Read: West Ham fans impressed with Felipe Anderson after he is pictured training alone during winter break

And on the pitch he works just as hard – or at least just as effectively defensively – as someone like Robert Snodgrass, who is widely recognised as one of West Ham’s grafters.

Statistics show Anderson pulls his weight

Statistics from Whoscored.com – the largest detailed football statistics website which is powered by Opta data – show Anderson has put in twice as many tackles as Snodgrass.

Anderson makes at least one interception per game compared to Snodgrass’s 0.2.

West Ham’s much-maligned Brazilian also gives away marginally less free-kicks than Snodgrass.

He also performs the same number of clearances.

Anderson is dribbled past more than Snodgrass but he does show bravery as he has more defensive dribbles – ie taking the ball in difficult areas and going past the opposition.

The winger also has more blocks than Snodgrass overall too.

Perhaps because Anderson’s body language and demeanour are more laid back than Snodgrass, it comes across in a negative way to West Ham fans.

But perhaps he can and should be doing even more?

Anderson has admitted in the past he is very much a confidence player. Being repeatedly substituted and criticised will not be doing that any good, regardless of the price tag on his head.

He can still play a massive part in West Ham’s battle for survival.

And he certainly should not be written off just yet.