Aguerd in the spotlight now

Nayef Aguerd is now going to have to prove he’s the player David Moyes said he would be.

One of the marquee signings of the summer, the Hammers are now almost entirely reliant on him living up to his price tag.

Kurt Zouma, of course, has undergone surgery and we don’t know when he will be back.

As a result, one has to think that Aguerd is going to be placed straight into the team once the Premier League kicks back off on Boxing Day, against Arsenal.

The Hammers do have other options at centre-back but Aguerd is now playing for Morocco at the World Cup, and he has looked thoroughly decent, with his side drawing 0-0 with Croatia and beating Belgium 2-0. A victory over Canada would see them qualify for the knockout stages.

However, memories of his injury in pre-season, when he was attempting to recover from his own mistake, loom large.

He cannot afford to make errors like that when he comes back to east London.

We must hope Moyes was right to prioritise Aguerd over all other defensive signings.

 

About Dave Langton

A journalist with 10 years' experience of working on National newspapers, now chief reporter covering the club that I've loved since I was a boy. Upton Park remains the greatest football stadium ever built.