Having endured rather than enjoyed a debut year in England, Sebastien Haller has plenty to prove. The £40m plus signing from Eintracht Frankfurt for West Ham United was seen as a spectacular coup. The player, who has been essential in the Eagles making such a run in the UEFA Europa League and impressing in the Bundesliga, was a highly coveted forward.
However, a rather drastic first season in England produced just seven goals and one assist across all domestic competition. Having only made 24 starts, too, it’s fair to say that Haller has plenty to do to change things around. He wouldn’t be the first forward to struggle in year one in England, though!
What makes him so special?
An outstanding all-around player, as you might expect his physique and athleticism means that Haller can hold opponents off and lay in his teammates. He’s also a hard worker, helping back defensively to keep his team less stuck in. Though this can mean being too far back to be a solid counter target, Haller is a top quality modern striker.
He’s a good forward who can keep the ball held up, who can get involved in both receiving and delivering fouls, and has no problem getting ‘stuck in’. His main problem stems from a stylistic issue; he’s playing in a very different team, system, and philosophy as he was used to dealing with in Germany and Holland before that.
However, it would be hard to deny that Haller has all the attributes to go to the next level as a player. He’s reaching his prime years, and has had a year to acclimatise to the English game. If David Moyes can get some more hard-working players to buzz around him, Haller could soon be linking-up with teammates as he had with so much quality at Frankfurt.