Graham Potter has been hired as the new West Ham United manager, following the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui, after a poor start to the 2024/25 Premier League season left the Hammers 14th after 20 games played.
One area that West Ham have struggled in so far this season is the middle of the park, lacking mobility to cover ground, often leaving big gaps between their two lines of pressure, with the midfield either too deep to help the forward line, or too advanced, making them unable to recover the large distances.
This has had a negative effect on their off-ball principles, leading to 2024 being their worst defensive year since 1967.
West Ham conceded 79 goals in 2024, the most in the Premier League during that calendar year. This alone could be enough for Potter to ask for reinforcement in central areas, in order to change their out-of-possession principles and improve those numbers.
The midfielder West Ham could sign
According to reports from The Daily Mail, West Ham are interested in out-of-favour Chelsea star, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. According to the report, Potter wants to strengthen his midfield options in January, and the Chelsea man could be a perfect way to do so.
With the 26-year-old only joining the Blues this summer for a fee of around £30m, Chelsea look like they are already willing to let Dewsbury-Hall leave the club, having fallen behind in the pecking order to multiple midfielders in Maresca’s plans.
The former Leicester ace has made 15 appearances in all competitions so far this season, scoring two goals, providing one assist and totalling 857 minutes played.
Dewsbury-Hall vs Paqueta comparison
Lucas Paqueta has been subject to criticism this season, making 21 appearances, scoring three goals and totalling 1,440 minutes so far.
But the main sources of criticism have come due to his lack of assists (0) in comparison to the number of times the Brazilian gives the ball away per game.
Dewsbury-Hall, whilst having an expansive passing range, will keep it simple in order to retain possession, and could therefore offer Potter another midfield option to keep things tidy and help the functionality of his side.
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The Englishman’s ex-manager, Brendan Rodgers, labelled Dewsbury-Hall a “special player” back in 2022, and that same skill set is clearly still there when we look at the numbers.
Goals
0.27
0.19
Assists
0.00
0.00
xG
0.19
0.24
xAG
0.19
0.13
Progressive Carries
2.71
0.72
Progressive Passes
8.31
5.29
Key Passes
2.37
1.50
Shot-Creating Actions
5.76
3.46
Tackles + Interceptions
1.50
3.33
When comparing their metrics from this season, you have to take into account that the Chelsea ace has played the majority of his minutes in the UEFA Conference League, in comparison to the Brazilian who has played the majority of his minutes in the Premier League.
Having said that, Dewsbury-Hall is outperforming the Irons star in many metrics, providing more progressive carries per 90, more shot-creating actions and more expected assists (xAG), whilst still offering the work-rate and mobility desired in midfield.
Whilst Paqueta is seen as the bigger talent between the two, the simplicity that Dewsbury-Hall could add to their midfield, along with that extra mobility needed and hard-working mentality, allowing Potter to implement new out-of-possession ideas at a faster rate, hopefully allowing the Hammers to get some points on the board.
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