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By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X) We all know the saying: there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Nothing highlights that better than Pablo Felipe’s performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers last night. Because as far as the eye test was concerned, West Ham’s £20million striker had a highly effective performance. In fact, I think I may have even uttered the words “his best display in a West Ham shirt” when I published my player ratings following the 4-2 win at the London Stadium. However, scratch a little below the surface and his statistics for the match look a little stinky, to say the least. Pablo’s Numbers Don’t Look Pretty Pablo’s performance against Wolves was a strange one because, in many ways, it was exactly the sort of display Nuno seems to value from him. He worked, battled and got involved in the ugly side of the game, contesting 20 duels and making five recoveries, three of them in the Wolves half. He was also tidy enough in possession, completing 18 of his 23 passes, and did at least contribute to West Ham’s attempts to move the ball forward. The problem is that, for a centre-forward, there was almost no attacking threat whatsoever. Pablo played 72 minutes, had just two touches in the Wolves penalty area and failed to register a single shot. He also lost all six of his aerial duels. Therefore, one might look at those numbers and conclude that he was completely useless. I disagree. The Eye Test Told A Completely Different Story I’m no fan of the young striker ordinarily, but I thought last night he was integral to the team performance and at the heart of everything good that West Ham did. It would normally be at this point where I damn him with faint praise for his work rate, endeavour and attitude. But from what I could see, he displayed some excellent touches and really helped fire the Hammers’ attacking game, despite what the stats might say. Two particular moments stick in my brain from the match. | Pablo Felipe vs Wolves | Stat | |---|---| | Shots | 0 | | Touches in penalty area | 2 | | Duels won | 7/20 – 35% | | Recoveries | 5 | | Aerial duels won | 0/6 | The first was a dinked pass into the path of Kyle Walker-Peters, which eventually resulted in Divine Mukasa’s humdinger of an opener. Mukasa was quite rightly the star of West Ham’s first Championship victory of the season, but Pablo played his part in helping the attack function around him. The second was a Ronaldinho-like drag-back played into the path of Manor Solomon. I’m not suggesting for a moment that Pablo has somehow tapped into an unknown reservoir of skills, but he did manage to knit together his usual energy and effervescence with some pretty useful flourishes of technique. Of course, there were the usual examples of balls bouncing off him and the odd first touch that would have put a donkey to shame. But they were far less frequent than usual. For all the numbers telling me what Pablo didn’t do, I know what I watched. I thought he was West Ham’s second-best player. And after that performance, he’s made himself undroppable for Derby County on Saturday.