Crysencio Summerville’s first goal in 25 West Ham United appearances, coming during Sunday’s tense FA Cup third-round victory over Queens Park Rangers, was well timed in every sense.
Of course, it would arrive with pretty much the last kick of an extremely even and low-quality first-half at the London Stadium.
And as captain Jarrod Bowen intimated at full-time, Summerville’s return to goalscoring ways could be key for a West Ham United side who need attacking ‘threats’ in all departments if they are to pull off a repeat of 2007’s Carlos Tevez-inspired ‘Great Escape’.
To cap a sumptuous Sunday from the previously goal-shy winger, Summerville assisted Taty Castellanos’ extra-time winner. Nuno Espirito Santo said he was ‘amazing’ on the left-hand side. A thumping left-footed finish and a sublime assist; the 2023/24 Championship Player of the Year looking a cut above, perhaps unsurprisingly, against second-tier opposition.
What would YOU tell Summerville as West Ham eye a potential replacement?
Talks have been held with Andreas Schjelderup?
With Tottenham to come next weekend, though, only time will tell if that QPR triumph will be a turning point in West Ham United’s season. Or in Summerville’s, for that matter.
After reports last week claimed that West Ham had held talks with Benfica to sign Andreas Schjelderup – another quicksilver left winger – one suspects that Summerville cannot afford to slip back into bad habits as a potential replacement hangs over his head.
Jose Mourinho has already told West Ham United want Andreas Schjelderup’s weaknesses are
Italian reporter Gianluca Di Marzio claimed that, while Roma have an interest, West Ham were leading the chase for Schjelderup.
Like Summerville, the Norway international is a right-footed left winger who likes to cut in and shoot. So, those links emerging just 48 hours or so before kick-off on FA Cup weekend, Summerville picked a very good time to produce comfortably his most impressive performance in a claret and blue jersey.
Competition for places and genuine squad depth is, though, something Nuno Espirito Santo is keen to develop.
Luis Guilherme left West Ham for Sporting Lisbon earlier in the month. There is, then, space in the squad for a new wideman, and the Londoners appear to have found one at Sporting’s capital city neighbours.
A Bola say that Schjelderup, who joined Benfica in a £12 million deal from Nordsjaelland while still a teenager, is likely to leave on loan rather than on a permanent basis. More regular game time is certainly required, having started only five of their 17 Primeira Liga matches under Jose Mourinho.
And speaking of Mourinho, the fork-tongued master of misery was typically forthright when highlighting the weaknesses in his 21-year-old forward’s game earlier this season.
Schjelderup’s ability is not in question. His fitness and his off-the-ball movement, though, needs plenty of work.
“Schjelderup is Schjelderup,” Mourinho said in trademark pulling-no-punches fashion back in September. “He struggles [to play the full] 90 minutes, he struggles with intensity and the sacrifice in transitions.
“He’s a player who likes the ball at his feet.”
Schjelderup likens himself to Everton ace Jack Grealish
Given that West Ham tend to have much less of the ball under Nuno than they did under Graham Potter – their possession average has fallen from 49 per cent to 41 per cent – Mourinho’s criticism may cast doubt on whether Schjelderup has the mobility or the engine to play a counter-attacking style of football in the most high-octane of competitions.
He would, though, offer West Ham something different on the left.
How much confidence does the win over QPR give you heading into Spurs? 👀
Oh, how sweet it would be to start to turn things around against them 😍
Even during that Man of the Match showing against QPR, there were moments when Summerville broke forward at breakneck speed, only to misplace his pass or charge down cul-de-sacs. If Summerville’s feet move faster than his brain at times, then the opposite is true of a silky Norwegian high on playmaking potential but relatively short on pace.
It is perhaps fitting that Schjelderup, in an interview with Goal, accepted there was truth to the comparisons likening him to Jack Grealish.
“Jack Grealish is a great player of course,” said Schjelderup, who turned down Liverpool as a youngster in Scandinavia. “I can see some similarities in the way we play.
“I am an offensive player who likes to have the ball, the same as Grealish, so I can see why they make that comparison. But I would like to get my numbers up in goals and assists to help contribute to the team.”
In 64 Benfica games, he has scored seven goals while setting up eleven more.
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