Matheus Fernandes marked his West Ham debut, just two days after signing with a win as the Hammers thrashed Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the City Ground.
The 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder completed his move to West Ham on Friday morning, and just over 48 hours he lined up alongside James Ward=Prowse, Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta in the heart of the Hammers midfield.
Graham Potter changed his shape for this one as he moved to a back four, Fernandes was playing a sort of left-wing/central midfield hybrid role, where he often swapped with Lucas Paqueta as they linked up very well throughout the match.
“It was a perfect debut for me,” our brand-new number 18 said. “I gave everything out there, and I think as a team we did very well.
“I think we deserved it. Over the last couple of days, training has been good, and though we knew they were a good team, we fully believed we could come here and win. We have world-class players with many qualities, and we showed that out there.
“They’re a very physical team, but we matched them, and we set the foundations in the first half. We tried to be intense and win every duel, and we’re really happy to come out of it with the points.
“Now, we just need to be more consistent going forward. There are still things we know we can improve, but we are confident we can keep winning games and achieve our goals.”
Fernandes brought something we’ve been missing in the midfield – energy. He never gave up, he was running around and putting himself about in midfield throughout the whole 82 minutes he was on the pitch. He even made three tackles, which was a joint high for the Irons alongside Kyle Walker-Peters.
Not only was he impressive in his defensive work, he also impressed on the ball, you can see why he stood out at Southampton.. His quality of progressing the ball through both passing and ball-carrying was excellent. It looks as though he is on the same wavelength as Lucas Paqueta, so having him in the side could also help get the best out of out Brazilian magnifico more consistently.
