Emerson Palmieri‘s sorry display for West Ham United in their 1-0 defeat to Brentford has proven why Graham Potter must look for an upgrade on the Italian left-back.
Kevin Schade netted the only goal of the game in the fourth minute for the Bees, finding the back of the net at the second time of asking after Alphonse Areola had denied his initial attempt. Yoane Wissa thought he’d put his side further in front in the 41st minute, but VAR intervened and ruled the goal out for an offside in the build-up.
The visitors warranted their half-time lead and could have been further out of sight if they had taken their chances against a disappointing Hammers’ side who were tame in front of goal and had questionable defending. Potter reacted to the poor first-half display by bringing off Emerson for Oliver Scarles after watching Bryan Mbeumo toy with the former Chelsea man and the versatile 19-year-old, who was an improvement on the veteran full-back.
Emerson offered nothing going forward for the Hammers in his 45-minute outing at the London Stadium, and he was one of several underperformers on Potter’s team who cannot be relied upon as a starter for much longer.
The 30-year-old made three clearances and won two of three ground duels but was non-existent in the air, beaten to the ball on two occasions — the 29-cap Italy international continues to show alarming signs of regression that undoubtedly makes that left-back position a priority to tackle in the summer transfer window.
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Reports claimed ahead of today’s game that doubts are growing within the West Ham coaching team regarding Emerson’s form and future at the club. The transfer chiefs have been tasked with finding a replacement for the defender, who sits on purported wages of £95,000. |
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Potter’s patience must be wearing thin over the Brazilian-born defender, especially because his poor run of form has often led to summer signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka being used as a makeshift left-back. He will have a year left on his contract at the end of the season, and the time is now to offload him and find a long-term replacement.
Full-backs are vital positions in Potter’s system, as was seen during his impressive spell in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, overseeing Spain’s Euro 2024 winning left-back Marc Cucurella‘s development. The Hammers boss wants his full-backs or wing-backs to support his attackers with direct off-the-ball runs into attacking spaces, and Emerson doesn’t look up for such a challenge.
All statistics courtesy of SofaScore – correct as of 15/02/2025.
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