Tube fan Graham Potter believes Ollie Scarles is on the right track to enjoy a successful career.
The West Ham United Head Coach was spotted taking the London Underground after Saturday’s 1-0 win at Arsenal, a game in which 19-year-old Scarles made an impressive full Premier League debut for the Club.
The Academy of Football graduate has been an all-stations stopper since Potter’s arrival in early January, starting twice and featuring five times from the substitutes’ bench in all competitions.
Scarles is set to pull into the Hammers’ squad again when Leicester City visit London Stadium on Thursday evening, but the Head Coach warned that, as with any up-and-coming player in the Premier League, there may be some delays along the way to his final destination of becoming a first-team regular.
“I said after the game, of course it's his football quality, but I think he played the game as if he'd been there before, almost,” Potter said, speaking in his pre-match press conference at Rush Green training ground. “He was intercepting things, his reading of the game was at a really good level, so again, I say credit to him, his family, the Academy, because that development process has been a long project.
“He's done a good job but, as I said, he's a young player that we have to be careful with, not to speak too much about, but certainly from the initial first impressions of him, it’s really positive.”
Potter was asked what engineering works Scarles needs to complete if he is to realise his ambition of becoming a regular senior West Ham player.
“I think he'll say the same, and that’s every aspect at that age,” said the Head Coach, who has also given opportunities to Lewis Orford and Luis Guilherme in recent weeks.
“I think you've also got to understand where he is on his journey. There's more to come from him, but that's not criticism, that's just natural because of his age.
“He's played his first Premier League game [from the kick-off] away at Arsenal and kept a clean sheet and got three points. That's quite a high start point for his career and I'd like to think he can maintain that, but the reality of it is that it goes up and down and we have to be there to help him and understand that and support him with that.
“But in terms of improvement, I think every aspect of his game can improve and that's the exciting thing because we've already got a top player.”
Touching upon his own travel preferences, Potter revealed that he much prefers public transport to battling through congestion in the capital.
“I went into London, and if anybody's living in London, traffic in London isn't that great sometimes, so I decided to get the Tube,” he smiled. “I've always tried to travel on the Tube. I quite enjoy it, to be fair. It's quite a good way to go, so I decided to get the Tube as it was going to be quicker to get to my destination.”
