Jamie Redknapp recently compared Dimitri Payet’s free-kick ability to that of David Beckham.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has told the club’s official website that Dimitri Payet reminds him of David Beckham.
Payet is one of the best players in the Premier League and is a set-piece specialist. The France international attacking midfielder is brilliant with free kicks.
According to Sky Sports, since the start of the 2015-16 season, the former Marseille star has attempted 30 direct free kicks.
The 29-year-old has scored five goals from them, meaning that his success rate from free kicks is 16.7%.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, recently stated in The Daily Mail that Payet’s free-kick technique reminds him of Beckham.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder is one of the greatest free-kick takers of all time.
West Ham manager Bilic agrees with Redknapp, and has said that Payet does remind him of Beckham.
“I rate him highly,” Bilic told West Ham’s official website about Payet. “When it comes to free-kicks I heard what Jamie Redknapp said and that he reminds him of David Beckham.
“There are a few ways of taking a free-kick. Julian Dicks used to smash them. They were great ones but they were different.
“You then have players who bend it like Beckham and he reminds me of that. The old fashioned way but hard as well. He is doing that in a great way and it is a very important part of his game.”
Payet has featured in three Premier League matches for West Ham so far this season, creating 13 chances in the process.
During the 2015-16 campaign, the former Marseille star scored nine goals and created 116 chances in 30 league games for the Hammers.
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