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he is strong which means he can cope with the (sometimes) agricultural football that is thrown up in the Football League. If he gets some early game time and builds some confidence, he could lock down his place for the season.
If he is such a promising talent, why did David Moyes let him go?
As I said, West Ham rarely misstep
when it comes to letting youngsters go (we’ll see what happens with this and
the departure of Sonny Perkins, which
is maybe even more significant). I think there is a slight frustration amongst fans that David Moyes seems unwilling to
give the club’s young stars too much of an opportunity in the first team but, given what he has achieved at the club since he came back, it’s hard to be too critical. The big opportunity for Alese should have been during the period towards the end of the season when West Ham had very few fit centre backs, but Moyes went with different options. Clearly he didn’t trust Alese (or Baptiste for that matter) so it’s no great shock that he was let go.
Does he have the leadership qualities to step up in those big moments
of games?
Centre back is one of those positions where you need some leadership qualities and he’s worn the armband at youth level. But at the same time, he is
a very young and inexperienced player. Remember, you can’t win anything
with kids!
I’ve never heard anything negative said about him and he’s applied himself in
a professional manner whenever he’s had the opportunity. He spoke very well to the press after his Europa League performance and seemed to have his head screwed on. There have never been public demands for first team football and, as I said, he’s at a club now where he needs to work hard and win a place in the first team. I certainly think he has that in him.
Can you see him eventually progressing above Championship level and into the Premier League
one day?
Never say never. He’s showed flashes
of potential but it’s just that right now- potential. We’ve seen plenty of players who have been heralded as the next big thing and then failed to make an impact, and also plenty that haven’t looked up to it but bloomed late on, which way this will go, who knows? I think Sunderland will get an idea fairly quickly as to how it will pan out once he gets a good run in the first team. I hope he smashes it, because there was supposedly a tasty buy-back clause included in the deal...
How’s his attitude?
ALOVESUPREME
ISSUE259
33
BY JIM SALVESON