Hammer Ryan Fredericks appeared to blow his big chance yesterday to nail down the number one spot for right back, Manuel Pellegrini showed faith in the young defender after an impressive performance against Liverpool last Monday night but he failed to show the same consistency at Selhurst Park he demonstrated at the London Stadium.
That led some West Ham supporters to suggest he is not ready for the step up to the number one right back spot and appeared to be out of his depth yesterday against Crystal Palace. Sure he was up against Wilfred Zaha who should arguably not have started but it was not the same performance we saw against Liverpool.
Fredericks confidence must have suffered further as the manager replaced him with Pablo Zabaleta eight minutes after Zaha’s equaliser and his face on the bench told you everything you needed to know as cameras zoomed in on the 26-year-old face.
In a Claret and Hugh poll on Friday of over 1,460 readers over 63% wanted Ryan Fredericks to start with the remaining 37% insisting Pablo Zabaleta was the right man to start.
There are twelve days of no football before West Ham face Fulham on Friday 22nd February when Pellegrini must decide which right back to start.
Too many tired legs are leaving Pelligrini with very little choices . A fortnight to recover will help immensely . Maybe we should stick with Fredericks so he can build on experience because Zabaleta , good though he is , is getting older by the game .
Tompkins , anyone ??
They looked a very tired team in the 2nd half.Not surprised considering Pelle has only 15 fit players in his squad.Topped off with 2 days less in recovery time with playing Monday night it was a bit of a struggle.Nearly 2 weeks to get players back into the squad is a Godsend for the manager especially in creative midfield positions.
Sorry, disagree 100% with this. He had 1 indifferent game and you’re writing him off?!
I don’t think Fredericks was to bad remember he had a long term injury , any player needs time to get up to match to match speed he is ok.
Players have bad games, Zaha like Anderson will terrorise defences, it will be a test of his character to see how he responds its his old club next up.
The reports I’ve read (and MOTD) seem to agree that Fredericks had a decent game. Scapegoating?
Yeh, I agree with PB61; hero to zero based on one outing and so soon after a very long lay-off through injury? Give the guy a chance. Anyway, with Zaba unable to play every match I’d rather have Fredericks there than Antonio.