During the Spurs defeat my pal Matt speculated that Nikola Vlasic is currently one of the most disappointing signings in West Ham's history. That might be overstating it a little, but it's certainly true that at £25 million he's had very little impact on our season so far apart from scoring the fourth goal against a tired Watford and making a goal for Yarmolenko in the away win at Rapid Vienna.
To be more positive it has to be remembered that Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma didn't look that good in their debut seasons at the club, but both significantly improved in their second seasons. Vlasic has looked stronger in recent weeks and a Watford fan who attended the Liverpool versus West Ham match told me he thought Vlasic was our best player in the first half.
Perhaps he is taking time to adapt to the Premier League and David Moyes' demands, but with Bowen's injury worse than thought Nikola really needs to step up right now. It's worrying that Moyes didn't start him against Spurs. In the last nine league games and the Europa League game against Lyon we're going to need Vlasic to contribute. He didn't make it in his season at Everton and after a more productive spell at Spartak Moscow, Vlasic needs to prove that he can produce in the PL.
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