While Callum Wilson reminds his detractors that age is just a number on the pitch, the West Ham United veteran is proving to be an invaluable presence off it too with the likes of Freddie Potts learning from his example.
There were plenty of fans and pundits alike, including former goalkeeper Rob Green, who wondered if West Ham had made a ‘horrible’ mistake letting so many experienced campaigners leave over the summer.
Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Michail Antonio, Danny Ings, Aaron Cresswell and Lukasz Fabianski [albeit briefly] would all see their contracts expire. Six players with 1,188 West Ham United appearances across a combined 40 years of service.
Fortunately, youngsters Freddie Potts, George Earthy, Mohamadou Kante and particularly centre-forward Callum Marshall still have the benefit of training – and occasionally playing – alongside a 33-year-old England international closing in on a century of Premier League goals.
One of the old heads in a much younger Hammers roster, Nuno Espirito Santo is backing Callum Wilson to kick on and make the number nine spot his own following the back of his game-changing strike against Burnley last time out.
The former Bournemouth, Coventry City and Newcastle marksman has now scored twice from just three league starts this term.
And while a fully-fit Callum Wilson clearly still has so much to offer in front of goal, the aforementioned Potts also stands to learn a few invaluable lessons at Rush Green from a striker eleven years his senior.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty ImagesCallum Wilson shares what he told Freddie Potts in training
Wilson, during an interview with the Daily Mail, saw Potts berate himself after misplacing a pass on the training ground. He will soon learn, the striker says, not to put so much pressure on his young shoulders.
“He gave one ball away that, by his standards, he shouldn’t give away,” Wilson explains. “He got mad at himself.
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“I just said, ‘You’ve played unbelievable, relax, that’s one pass. Everyone makes mistakes’.”
The ‘mistake’ Nuno Espirito Santo made, in hindsight, was not to introduce the academy graduate into his starting XI sooner. Freddie Potts has made an ‘absolutely outstanding’ impact since taking the place of Andy Irving. That West Ham have won successive Premier League home matches for the first time in thirteen months, with the Barking-born battle-axe in the heart of proceedings, is no coincidence.
In addition to his smooth, stylish passing, Potts brings the sort of tenacity the mobility Irving, Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse and co simply cannot match.
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Up against a Bournemouth side chock-full of agile attacking midfielders – from Justin Kluivert to Ryan Christie, Marcus Tavernier to David Brooks – he could potentially be the key to securing three consecutive wins on Saturday afternoon.
Nuno has indicated that Freddie Potts may be a doubt, though, having picked up a knock in that Burnley triumph before the international break.
“They are recovering. They are recovering, getting better day by day,” Nuno said during his press conference when asked about Potts and centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos.
“We still have the [training] session tomorrow to see and evaluate and decide.
“Some [players have picked up knocks]. It is always something we don’t want to open [up about] too much but, after every international break, there is always doubts and things we need to assess.”