Lucas Paqueta’s deeper role for Brazil should make West Ham rethink

Brazil defeated Switzerland 1-0 on Monday in World Cup Group G action, qualifying for the Round of 16.

It was a coup when West Ham signed Lucas Paqueta.

David Moyes’ statement summer signing cost £51million ($61.6m today) and, after starting in Brazil’s 2-0 opening group-stage win over Serbia last night, he could return to London next month as a World Cup winner.

But his midfield role for Brazil, a deeper one than he plays at West Ham, might prompt Moyes to reconsider how he uses the 25-year-old for the remainder of the season.

Against Serbia, Paqueta played alongside Casemiro — having been preferred for the starting XI over fellow Premier League players Fred (Manchester United), Fabinho (Liverpool) and Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United) — and repeatedly demonstrated his attacking effectiveness despite that deeper role.

In this screengrab, Paqueta plays Raphinha through on goal. The Barcelona forward misses the chances, but it shows the threat Paqueta poses when in possession with multiple attacking team-mates in front of him.

Here, in the second half, he tees up Raphinha once more. This shot is blocked by Serbia’s Milos Veljkovic, but again it shows Paqueta’s strength as a playmaker.

As Brazil coach Tite said after the match: “In the second half, the repositioning mainly of Paqueta allowed us to have one more player in the pocket. The play started to flow more after.”

Tite and Paqueta have a strong relationship. It was Tite who gave Paqueta his debut for the national team in 2018 and then kept faith in him ahead of some of Brazil’s other star talents.

Why? Paqueta’s performance in the 1-0 win over Peru last summer in the Copa America semi-finals is a good starting point.

“I would like to congratulate Paqueta, but also the entire team, who did a great job for us to have the performance they had,” Tite said then, after the midfielder scored the only goal.

It was Paqueta’s vision, rather than his goal, that left a lasting impression following that match, though.

Here, he is in a forward position as he threads a defence-splitting pass to Richarlison, who misses a golden opportunity.

The screen grab below shows Paqueta in a much deeper position in the second half, attempting a long ball.

The pass accurately finds Neymar, who is through on goal.

Paqueta had a penchant for delivering similar balls while at previous club Lyon in France, though not so much yet for West Ham.

He doesn’t shy away from defensive duties when he’s wearing the famous Brazil shirt either. He is capable of making interceptions and retrieving possession with aplomb, applying pressure to Peru here:

Having secured the ball, and with forwards to aim for, Paqueta plays a pass to Neymar. It was the wrong choice in this move, which broke down, but Moyes might envision his summer signing initiating West Ham attacks like this once the club season resumes next month.

Paqueta was named the best foreign player in Ligue 1 last season, having scored nine league goals and registering six assists in 35 appearances for Lyon, which is why he was on a lot of clubs’ radars during the summer window.

Arsenal were rumoured to be interested. Their sporting director Edu denied the rumour, but while doing so took the opportunity to compliment countryman Paqueta: “I’m a guy who likes him a lot, I’ve always liked him, since my time with Brazil’s national team.”

Across London at Chelsea, Brazil team-mate Thiago Silva also had an eye on Paqueta’s future.

“I heard he was about to leave Lyon and I had some conversations here with some people,” the defender told ESPN Brazil. “But unfortunately things didn’t work out. But I’m happy for Paqueta because West Ham certainly have a very good structure; it’s a great club in the Premier League scene.”

Since moving to the London Stadium, Paqueta has mainly operated as a No 10 and although he is yet to score for his new club, he has provided three assists in 12 appearances across the Premier League and Europa Conference League.

That deeper role, however, could benefit West Ham’s playing style more. Moyes likes his teams to be compact and keep their shape and Paqueta might have more joy initiating attacks with a greater number of colleagues in front of him.

Below is an example of his vision from such a pocket of space, against Southampton. He advances and spots Jarrod Bowen’s run, then dinks a ball in for his team-mate.

Paqueta is capable of creating something out of nothing.

Take this long ball in the home Europa Conference League win over Romania’s FCSB…

…which becomes a dangerous pass to Maxwel Cornet in the box.

Another example came in the 3-1 win over Fulham.

Kurt Zouma passes to Paqueta, who is in his own half. He has options here — Tomas Soucek, Aaron Cresswell or Craig Dawson.

But instead, Paqueta surges past Neeskens Kebano, spots Bowen’s run and threads a pass through to the winger.

We got a further example of Paqueta passing from deep in the 3-2 win away to Silkeborg in the same competition.

He spots Cornet, who makes a run in behind the Danes’ defence. Although Paqueta puts too much weight on the pass, his vision from that position should give Moyes something to ponder.

In the No 10 role, Paqueta has linked up well with fellow-newcomer striker Gianluca Scamacca, but a midfield pairing with Declan Rice could unlock more potential, especially when you factor in the Brazilian’s work rate off the ball.

Rice and Soucek is Moyes’ preferred midfield partnership at the moment and was once considered one of the best midfield pairings in the Premier League, but the latter has struggled for consistency over the past 12 months.

Soucek ranks first among West Ham players for aerial duels lost (30) and is second for total duels lost (74). To show the partnership’s decline, Rice is first at the club this season for successful passes (833), while Soucek is fifth (405).

Deploying Paqueta in this deeper role would open the door to Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma or Manuel Lanzini playing more advanced as the No 10.

It is something for Moyes to think about as he waits for the club season to resume and something for West Ham fans to watch in Paqueta’s coming matches for Brazil in Qatar.

GO DEEPER

Every World Cup question you’ve been too afraid to ask

Follow the latest World Cup news, analysis, tables, fixtures and more here

(Top photo: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)