Throwing Nathan Holland to the Wolves
Despite a somewhat fortunate win over Chelsea at the weekend, normal service was resumed for West Ham last night as they surrendered to a tame 2–0 loss to Wolves.
The only notable aspect of the game was Manuel Pellegrini giving a Premier League debut to Nathan Holland as a second half substitute. Holland’s inclusion is something that a number of fans have been calling for a while; perhaps unsurprising for a player who has scored 9 goals and registered 6 assists in 11 Premier League 2 (under-23 level) football this season.
But being too good for under-23 football doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be good enough the Premier League. Focusing solely at his headline goal contribution is a mistake as it lacks the proper context — Holland is putting in these performances at the age of 21, playing against teams often fielding much younger players at this standard.
And therein lies the problem. Nathan Holland is 21 and has now made 3 senior appearances at any level (all for West Ham).
There are virtually no young forwards who play in the Premier League without first getting experience at a different standard of senior football. Dwight McNeil, Phil Foden, Ismaïla Sarr, Christian Pulisic, Marcus Rashford, Callum Hudson-Odoi are the only ones that I can think of and they all made the breakthrough into the first team much younger and, with the exception of maybe McNeil, Holland is not in the same bracket as the other players in that list.
A look at the landscape of players who are similar in age and profile to Nathan Holland (born June ’98) reveals just how far behind in his development he is:
(“non-PL games” = appearances for a club outside of the Premier League or equivalent top level league)
Mason Mount (Jan ’99) — 105 senior appearances, 84 non-PL games
Steven Alzate (Sep ’98) — 47 senior appearances, 38 non-PL games
Moussa Djenepo (June ’98) — 69 senior appearances, 61 non-PL games
Todd Cantwell (Feb ’98) — 52 senior appearances, 34 non-PL games
Harvey Barnes (Dec ’97) — 102 senior appearances, 70 non-PL games
Daniel James (Nov ’97) — 48 senior appearances, 39 non-PL games
David Brooks (Jul ’97) — 75 senior appearances, 42 non-PL games
Harry Wilson (Mar ’97) — 88 senior appearances, 61 non-PL games
It’s not Holland’s fault that he’s behind the curve like this. That blame falls squarely on the club — why on Earth hasn’t he been out on loan somewhere at some point instead of perpetually playing Premier League 2 football? It’s unfair to drop someone so inexperienced into Premier League games and expect them to flourish immediately.
I feel a bit sorry for him getting thrown into this mess but, compared to his peers, Holland has a lot of making up to do. Anyone expecting him to be our salvation, or even a viable Premier League player at this point, is going to be disappointed.
