I have thought long and hard about whether Lucas Paquetá should start for West Ham in tomorrow’s Carabao Cup fixture against Liverpool.
The Brazilian midfielder has been well off the boil so far this season, and it would not be unreasonable to argue that he doesn’t deserve to start at Anfield.
Of course, there are mitigating circumstances to his loss of form as he continues to fight FA charges for betting irregularities. However, the fact remains that he has been ineffective and is a key reason why West Ham’s attack continues to falter.
While it’s important for Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus to get back on the goal trail, someone has to supply the ammunition, and that’s certainly not going to happen via Edson Álvarez, Guido Rodríguez, or Tomáš Souček.
Carlos Soler may well be the answer to our creative midfield problems, but I honestly haven’t seen enough of him to make a reasoned appraisal of the loan signing from PSG.
West Ham are struggling at the moment and need inspiration from both Hammers head coach Julen Lopetegui and the players on the pitch. Our new head coach has faced significant criticism over the past few days, but it’s worth pointing out that the players also showed a lack of fight and quality against Chelsea.
Clearly, if West Ham’s poor form continues, something will have to give, and in many respects, it’s the coach’s job to reorganise the Irons’ shambolic defence. However, on the pitch and in attack, the team is crying out for inspiration, and for that reason, we desperately need the genius of Lucas Paquetá to once again demonstrate why Manchester City were close to paying £80 million for his services.
Well Gonzo I think paqman should be benched against Liverpool, he can’t think on this form he is an automatic starter. For me try Alvarez and Soler together and Kudus ,who can tackle ,hold the ball ,make runs with ball and score goals play in the middle between Summerville and Bowen and behind a striker. But all will be revealed Wednesday night ,it’s got to be better than Saturday
Totally agree with Essexiron67 there, would love to see Kudus be given a free role in that number 10 position through the middle with Jimmy on the left and Bowen on the right,the experiment with Bowen up top didn’t work last season and it didn’t work against Chelsea.
Just want to see us be set up right and play at a proper tempo,the way we started against Chelsea in a London derby was embarrassing, like a testimonial, cant have that bs again ever this season.
Got Sausage and mash with lashings of onion gravy for tea tonight so happy days
Paqueta needs. To buck to or not play
Also they need a bomb under the team and get Greek half back back to greece