West Ham boss David Moyes raved about Sebastien Haller’s quality, when speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard, but urged the 6ft 3in hitman to smile more.
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The 26-year-old joined the Hammers from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2019 for around £45 million.
Haller has struggled to establish himself at the London Stadium, however. He has scored just 12 goals in 43 games for West Ham (Transfermarkt).
Many Hammers fans have defended Haller, suggesting that we haven’t played to his strengths and that he has been used in a system that quite simply doesn’t suit him.
The more cynical West Ham fans have criticised the 26-year-old for his lack of effort and general miserable demeanour, however.
And David Moyes told the Evening Standard yesterday that in spite of Haller’s undoubted quality, it wouldn’t harm him to smile a little bit more:
“I’ve got to tell you he’s got a very good capacity to run, he’s an incredibly fit athlete, a powerful man, 6ft 4in. So he’s got an awful lot of good attributes, and let me tell you he can run. I think his demeanour at times, and I’ve said to him many times, a smile now and again, maybe I’m not the best one to be saying that, but a smile now and again makes a big difference.”
Haller struggled to influence the game last weekend away at Liverpool. But he has a real chance to impress tonight when West Ham welcome Fulham to the London Stadium.
Perhaps if we provide Haller with better service he will have more to smile about. At the same time, however, he needs to make things happen for himself.
The harder he works, the more luck he will get. It really is as simple as that. And as Moyes said, perhaps he needs to change his attitude as well.
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