Alvaraz update
Alvarez update
An update on Edson Alvarez is that he missed today’s game through illness.
And Emerson came on as a sub in the second half despite having been sick himself for several days. The left back had travelled with the squad but the manager decided to leave him out of the starting X1 due to his illness.
Meanwhile, the major defensive midfielder Alvarez had been sick despite turning out in the win against Spurs but we understand he has relapsed and it remain to be seen whether he will appear in the critical Group A Europa League match against Freiburg on Thursday evening.
Emerson did particularly well given his health circumstances after coming on for the hugely ineffective Aaron Cresswell whose West Ham days are now surely behind him. For the unwell defender to be required to replace Cressie tells its own story.
Alvarez has been ill since returning from international duty which is always a problem at this time of the year when players are travelling for hours to different countries.
However, there can be no reason to use that absence as an excuse for today’s performance which was worse than shambolic. Hammers fans can accept most defeats so long as they see the team giving everything but today none of them gave a thing!