West Ham flop compared to Pirlo, now he’s ‘National League standard’

This could be the first international break in a while and West Ham United fans can’t wait for it to end.

The east Londoners are still in the Premier League relegation zone, but after back-to-back wins there is a sense of optimism that they can avoid a long fight for survival this year.

After all, Nuno Espirtio Santo took Nottingham Forest from the bottom of the table to the Europa League in a season and a half; why can’t he achieve something similar at the London Stadium?

However, before fans get carried away, there are still a number of players who need to be removed from the squad, including a previous miss in Andrea Pirlo.

West Ham’s biggest losers since Nuno’s arrival

After a slightly rocky start, Nuno appears to have finally stabilized and improved things at West Ham.

However, although the team appears to be somewhat on the upswing and fans are starting to feel rightly optimistic about what the rest of the campaign could bring, some players have been on the losing end due to the appointment of the Portuguese coach.

For example, while James Ward-Prowse was a constant fixture in Graham Potter’s midfield, he did not play a single minute under the new regime.

In fact, the former Southampton captain hasn’t even been named in a single squad, which shouldn’t be too surprising given Nuno also left him out when he was on loan at the City Ground last year.

Igor Julio is another Potter recruit who has been unlucky under the Sao Tome-born boss.

The Brazilian centre-back joined the Hammers on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion on deadline day, and so far has played 13 minutes of football under his new boss, in three short appearances off the bench.

What makes the situation worse is the fact that Konstantinos Mavropanos has been injured for almost a month and, even so, he is still limited to a minor role, at best.

Finally, even if it may be a little harsh, the manager seems to have lost confidence in Soungoutou Magassa.

The Frenchman started his first two matches in charge, but has since seen just 30 minutes of action in the last four league matches, thanks to two substitutions.

That said, he’s still young and clearly talented, so there’s every chance Nuno will use him more often, which can’t be said for a West Ham flop who was once compared to Pirlo, but now needs to be sold as quickly as possible.

West Ham flop compared to Pirlo

The midfield pairing of Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes, who have worked so well in recent games, have made it clear that West Ham need to get rid of their other midfield options, who have seemed very distant this season: Andrew Irving.

The Hammers signed the Scot in the summer of 2023 from Austrian side Klagenfurt, and while it wasn’t really a big deal at the time, it was hoped he would prove to be a bargain, especially as he had been compared to the legendary Pirlo in the past.

Yes, although it was certainly ironic, fans gave him the nickname “Portobello Pirlo” while he was playing with Scottish side Hearts, where he made 61 appearances, scoring five goals and providing 13 assists.

Unfortunately, while he probably deserved the comparison north of the border, he failed to display any Pirlo-like quality in the capital.

In fact, in the words of journalist Jordan Rushworth, he looks more like a “standard National League” midfielder, adding that he “gets passed every time an opposition midfielder has the ball.”

Although tough and probably a little over the top, the 25-year-old has looked miles away from the Claret and Blue, and was starting in the middle of the park during Nuno’s struggles against Brentford and Leeds United.

In fact, it was following the first that Jamie Carragher described the Hammers as “one of the slowest teams I’ve seen in the history of the Premier League!”

This lack of dynamism in the middle of the park was largely down to the once-capped Scot, and his stats from this match were not pleasant to read.

In his 61 minutes of inaction, he played just one key pass, misplaced four out of five crosses, lost 100% of his tackles, made no interceptions, clearances or blocks and lost 100% of his aerial duels.

Ultimately, Irving has been really quite poor for West Ham this season, and with much better options currently doing business for Nuno, he should be sold in January.