Pablo Felipe only needs look back at West Ham United’s ‘Great Escape’ of 2007 – and the brilliance of Carlos Tevez – to ease any frustration he may be feeling following a goalless start to life in the Premier League.
Alan Curbishley remembers instructing Carlos Tevez to simplify his game after 16 matches and over 1,000 minutes without finding the net in a claret and blue jersey. Tevez, Curbishley said recently on James Richardson’s Totally Extra podcast, just needed to focus on getting himself in goalscoring positions more often.
After no goals in 16 games, Tevez ended that season with seven in his last ten as West Ham United dodged the drop.
Ally gets it 😎 Where should Pablo Felipe play for West Ham – as a No.9 or a No.10?
One suspects, if Curbishley was currently in the seat occupied by Nuno Espirito Santo, he may have similar advice for Pablo Felipe; the Hammers’ £18 million January signing from Gil Vicente.
Pablo Felipe hasn’t scored in Premier League for West Ham United
Pablo delivered a typically industrious performance against Manchester City in Saturday’s 1-1 draw. That has been the story of his West Ham career so far. Plenty of perspiration, very little inspiration.
In 64 minutes on the pitch, he made more clearances [two] than he had shots [zero].
This means Pablo has now gone six league matches without scoring. Eight, if you include the FA Cup.
But, while it took Tevez 16 matches and eight months to open his account, the sprawling history of the Premier League is full of strikers for whom the ketchup eventually started flowing after weeks of banging against the bottle.
Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp took nine and seven games respectively to get off the mark. While not a ‘classic’ number nine, Roberto Firmino endured a ten-game barren run after joining Liverpool from Hoffenheim. Aston Villa icon Juan Pablo Angel and ex-Man City beanpole Edin Dzeko suffered through nine matches without a goal.
And while Diego Forlan would spend his best years in Spain with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, his Manchester United career began with 23 goalless appearances in the early-2000s.
Those writing off Pablo already – a 22-year-old footballer in a brand new league, a brand new culture and learning a brand new language – could do worse than to keep this in mind. Sometimes good things really do come to those who wait.
Is Cry the spark to ignite our ‘Great Escape’? 🔦
Alan Curbishley advice could work well for Pablo
“It was quite simple. We had an interpreter attached to Carlos, and I sat him down one day and showed him the pitch,” Curbishley said when explaining how he helped ignite Tevez’s West Ham career.
“I divided it into three sections, the attacking third, the midfield third, and the defensive third, and I started giving him marks out of 10 for what he was doing.
“I gave him eight out of 10 [for the] defensive third. I gave him nine out of 10 midfield third. And I gave him three out of 10 in the attacking third, because he was never in the attacking third!”
Comparisons were drawn between Taty Castellanos and Carlos Tevez when the Argentine followed in his compatriot’s footsteps in January. Pablo, though, has proven with a series of all-action displays that he shares Tevez’s ferocious work ethic and team spirit; seemingly spending more time tracking back than he does running in behind.
Sometimes, though, a striker needs to nourish that selfish streak.
Pablo’s conversion rate was higher than Erling Haaland’s and Harry Kane’s during his final few months in Portugal; 10 goals in 12 Primeira Liga starts for Gil Vicente.
There is clearly an emphatic finisher in there somewhere. It’s just that Nuno, like Curbishley nearly 20 years ago, needs to find a way to release it.
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