Podcaster Tom Edwards has recently heaped praise on West Ham United’s young central defender Aji Alese.
The 19-year-old defender recently featured for the Irons for the full match in their recent 5-1 hammering of League One side Hull City in the Carabao Cup (per BBC).
For his role in the clash, Alese was awarded an impressive 8/10 performance rating by Football.london and it was claimed that he ‘never looked overawed’.
The match was Alese’s senior debut for the Hammers with the youngster having only featured on the bench during West Ham’s victory over Charlton Athletic in the previous round of the Carabao Cup (per Transfermarkt).
In the latest episode of the We Are West Ham Podcast, Edwards discussed Alese and fellow youngster Harrison Ashby as he heaped praise on the England youth international.
He said: “Alese [is] a left-footed centre-half, which is gold dust.
“Obviously, we’ve got [Angelo] Ogbonna, which [makes us] probably the only club in the league who has a half-decent left-footed centre-half other than [Manchester] City with [Nathan] Ake, there’s not many of them about.
“[Alese] looked like a seriously good player, as well – comfortable on the ball, good in the air, and it was just a joy to see two young players, who, not like [Declan] Rice or [Reece] Oxford, you heard lots about.
“Obviously, we’ve heard bits and bobs about Alese and Ashby, but they sort of [came] out the woodwork this pre-season and looked like really good players and that’s what we want.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the podcaster had to say, he was evidently impressed with Alese during the cup tie with Hull at the London Stadium.
Do you want to see Aji Alese play more first-team matches for West Ham this season?
No, he's not good enough
Yes, he's a solid player
With the Hammers facing tougher opposition in the next round of the Carabao Cup, with a clash against Everton after the Toffees beat Fleetwood Town 5-2, it will be interesting to see if Alese is given another chance.
After the 19-year-old Englishman picked up an 8/10 performance rating, though, perhaps it would be harsh for David Moyes to drop the defender in the next round of the competition.