'He was fantastic': Jamie Carragher says £51m West Ham ace genuinely saved them from losing 3-0 to Aston Villa

Yesterday at 03:54 AM

Graham Potter’s start to life as West Ham United boss has been solid, if not spectacular as the Hammers are now unbeaten in two of his three games in charge after their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.

West Ham beat Fulham 3-2 in Potter’s first game at the London Stadium, lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace and then came back from a goal down to take home a point against Unai Emery’s side.

The last time both sides face each other, Aston Villa came out on top by winning 2-1 in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

Lucas Paqueta, who scored the opening goal in the fixture was tasked to play as a makeshift striker against the Villains and he impressed.

Paqueta, who Bruno Guimaraes has lauded previously showcased his versatility by looking the part up front, showing that apart from playing as a number 10, in central midfield and as a winger, he can also do a job as a centre-forward.

Paqueta is a top player and as Graham Potter will be hoping to succeed at West Ham, he will be hugely reliant on the Brazilian international to rise to the occassion for him.

Jamie Carragher says West Ham could have lost 3-0 to Aston Villa if not for Lucas Paqueta

Jamie Carragher was extremely impressed by the £51 million (Sky Sports) man’s display as a striker.

So much so that the Liverpool legend felt that had the former Lyon midfielder not stepped up, the hosts could have suffered a potential 3-0 loss at the hands of the visitors.

Jamie Carragher was mesmerised by Paqueta’s impressive performance on Sky Sports, saying: “Very good, I really feared for them in the first 15 minutes. I thought it was a case of sort of 2, 3-0 at half-time and I couldn’t see anything else. They really got themselves back into the game and a I think lot of that was through [Lucas] Paqueta and I’m sure that came through on the commentary that I thought he played quite well.”

“I thought he was fantastic, you know, not being an out-and-out centre-forward but the way he held the ball up as well.”

Jamie Carragher also claimed that the mark of a top-drawer attacker is that it is virtually impossible to bully them in games, which he feels applies to Paqueta, who Xabi Alonso has praised.

“And I always think sometimes with flair players, you sometimes think, me as a defender, okay, away from home, will he fancy it, can you knock him off the ball, can you bully them a little bit?”

“But I always think the top attacking players, which he is one in the Premier League right now, you can’t bully them. They’ve got a physique about them, they’ve got a power about them, I can see defenders coming over and putting a challenge on him, knock him off the ball and he’s just got that power and strength to hold the ball or keep the ball, I thought he was fantastic.”

Paqueta has proven his class under David Moyes and perhaps he could become Graham Potter’s go-to man up front now as well.

Graham Potter hails Lucas Paqueta after Aston Villa vs West Ham

Potter was proud of his West Ham side for their team effort against Aston Villa, reserving special praise for Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Carlos Soler for their work rate further forward.

Graham Potter said via West Ham’s official website: “It starts from Lucas [Paqueta], Mo [Kudus] and Carlos [Soler], helped the midfield out, the lateral centre-backs help the midfield out, and the midfield help the team out, so it was a good team performance, it really was. 

“I think that’s something we’ve been trying to reinforce all the time. We have to be a team, we have to be hard to beat, we have to be compact and if we can attack fast, we attack fast, but if not then we have to feel that we can keep the ball and I thought we did both of those things.”

Paqueta’s statistics certainly prove the former Brighton & Hove Albion manager’s assessment right.

Paqueta’s nine defensive actions as well as his 12 duels and three successful tackles reflect he graft he put in against Aston Villa.

Villa are eighth in the league and are a banana skin for any team in Europe.

As a result, Paqueta’s dogged display was worth its weight in gold to West Ham.

Graham Potter will be expecting the same standards from the 27-year-old moving forward.