Much has been made, understandably so, of the defensive qualities Axel Disasi has brought to West Ham United following his deadline day arrival from Chelsea.
There were doubts. Of course there were.
The France international had not played a Premier League game in nearly a year, and made the short trip across London having spent the previous few months gathering cobwebs in the Stamford Bridge bomb squad.
Yet, at his best, Disasi has dominated Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. He reached a World Cup final, played eleven Champions League games, and earned five France caps at a time when Les Bleus boasted arguably the deepest pool of centre-halves anywhere on the planet.
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So of course Axel Disasi was going to be an upgrade on Max Kilman. The real positive, though, is just how quickly he has made a starting spot his own. Before Benjamin Sesko ‘robbed’ a point for Manchester United in the sixth minute of stoppage time at the London Stadium, Disasi was on the verge of successive clean sheets in a West Ham United shirt. Something no one has achieved all season.
Nuno Espirito Santo has spoken in glowing terms about the way his former Monaco colossus has slotted straight in, effortlessly and efficiently. All those fears of a lack of match sharpness, it is fair to say, have been dispelled with two Rolls Royce performances from a man the size of a Monster Truck.
Delve a little deeper, though, and it is clear that it’s not only without the ball where Disasi excels.
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Axel Disasi is West Ham United’s best passer already
According to stats specialists WhoScored, Disasi currently averages the most passes per game of any West Ham player in the Premier League this season with 47. And, while the sample size is admittedly small, Disasi’s 92 per cent success rate also makes him Nuno’s most accurate passer, ahead of Mateus Fernandes in second.
There are a couple of ways to read said data.
One, Disasi has not been overly-expansive with his use of possession so far. Jean-Clair Todibo is always looking to break the lines, while his compatriot seems happy enough keeping it simple.
On the other hand, if Nuno is attempting to shift towards a more proactive gameplan – it feels telling that Mads Hermansen is back as West Ham’s number one because the Dane’s distribution is ‘levels above’ that of Alphonse Areola – then Disasi’s calm, steady influence on the ball should also help in this regard.
From December to early January, West Ham recorded lower than 40 per cent possession in six out of seven league matches. In recent outings against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Burnley, though, Nuno’s team have not merely attempted to sit back and soak up the pressure but instead made a more even fist of things.
It remains to be seen which approach Nuno opts for when Bournemouth come to town on Saturday. The West Ham boss says the visit of Andoni Iraola’s side is ‘massive’ for their survival prospects. This feels like a real ‘do not lose’ sort of occasion.
Both from a defensive and a build-up perspective, Disasi’s calm demeanour will be key.
For context, Todibo – the man most would consider to be West Ham’s best ball-playing defender – averages ten fewer passes per game than Disasi, and completes 87 per cent of them compared to Disasi’s 92 per cent.
No Potts, no Pablo – but Todibo is back!
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Disasi hails Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville
Speaking on the Ironcast podcast earlier in the week, Disasi hailed the ‘talent’ of this West Ham squad. A squad strengthened by some smart January business, and revitalised following a run of five wins in seven matches across all competitions.
Beat Bournemouth, and West Ham will move outside of the relegation zone before Forest host Liverpool on Sunday.
“I would say maybe Mateus Fernandes [has surprised me the most],” Disasi said.
“Even last year when he was playing at Southampton, I remember [thinking], ‘this player is good.’ Then, when I played against Burnley, we were on the same team, I said, ‘no, he’s good, honestly.’ He can run, he can attack, and he can defend. He has good passing quality… no, he’s good.”
“[Summerville] is very sharp and very quick. He’s been doing very well over the last few games. He is very helpful for us, most definitely.
“I know ‘JC’ [Todibo] and Soungoutou [Magassa] as well,” adds the ex-Principality powerhouse. “I saw him start in Monaco when he came through the academy, so I’m happy to see him here. When you come to a new team, it’s obviously good to have faces you know and you can speak with. It made the integration much easier for me.
“But the other guys have been top with me as well. They are very friendly, so my integration has been very good.
“When I came here, I realised that everyone has that same goal. We are all in the same boat. We have to go to get our objective because obviously the players know we are not in the place we should be.
“But when you look at the squad, you can see the quality. We have players like Malick [Diouf], who just won the AFCON. You can tell the team has the quality to get through [this]. We just have to stick together the way we are now, and I’m sure we will be OK.”
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