Record £38 million signing from Ajax Mohammed Kudus is facing the most scrutiny. He is currently entering his 2nd season with top-level club West Ham United. Kudus’ phenomenal debut season saw him crowned the Premier League’s best newcomer by Sky Sports’ Gary Neville. Now, he needs to figure out how to continue building off of his all-star season and make up for a drop off in performance standards.
In his first season at West Ham, Kudus flourished, clocking 1,523 minutes mostly out on his favored right flank. He proved a massive threat in attack, netting 14 goals in all competitions while racking up nine assists to boot. His most audacious moment of the season was his club’s goal-of-the-season, an electric solo slalom through the Freiburg defense.
For the young forward, the turn of the page to the 2024/25 season quickly served as a wake-up call. Kudus hasn’t been given opportunities to flourish and has had his playing time cut down significantly, only counting a measly 646 minutes on his preferred right wing. This decrease in minutes has been accompanied by a significant downturn in his rate stats. Though Kudus has honed his shot selection this season, the numbers speak for themselves, goals, assists and completed take-ons all down from last season.
Kudus amounted that 44.8 percent of those 67 shots in the 2023/24 season were long-range efforts. In this season, that number has dropped to a mere 29 percent. This dramatic change in shooting style has led many to wonder what his role is, or will be, inside Graham Potter’s tactical accordion. The manager noted that individual performances can often reflect the overall team dynamics, stating, “Sometimes when the team isn’t functioning as well as you’d like, individuals within the team can suffer with that.”
The season’s challenges were compounded for Kudus when he received a five-game ban for an incident during a derby match against Tottenham. The length of the suspension only served to inhibit his chances to return to form and prove he has something more to offer.
Having played in four different positions already in the opening games of the fledging campaign, Kudus is already a tantalising prospect. This approach underlines Potter’s willingness to search for the ideal role for him within the team. He has increased his chances at creating plays this year. The takeaway from his disappointing lower take-on numbers is that he hadn’t found a way to reinstate the touch of support that last year endeared him to fans.
Even with these difficulties, Kudus is an excellent acquisition for West Ham. He has three years left in his contract, which brings the price tag to over £50 million. His talent still has reporters and fans foaming at the mouth. For Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, this confidence in Kudus’s abilities seems unshakable as he hailed the Ghanaian, “There’s no doubt that he’s a quality player.”
As West Ham navigates its current form and seeks to improve its standing in the league, all eyes will remain on Mohammed Kudus. This exceptionally gifted forward has to return to his early season sorcery. He’ll need to show that he can fight through the woes of a second-year slump.
Leave a Reply