All successful teams need a blend of skill and strength: Every Brooking needs a Bonds behind him. Maybe not all as mad as Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen (pictured).
The most memorable PL teams have had a strong ‘spine’ from defenders through midfield who were tough tackling, imposing characters that made forwards think twice about taking them on.
Gradually West Ham are moving in this direction. The Irons are now showing signs of developing the midfield pairing to stop oppositions playing through us – which seemed to happen too easily when we had the ‘dreaded’ double pivot of JWP and Soucek.
Alvarez and Rodriguez have started to work well together. They’ve also started to gel off the pitch, which is always a good sign for the team. Speaking to whufc.com, Guido Rodriguez and ‘El Machin’ confirm the two have history together: Indeed, Saturday will be their seventy ninth start together!
Says Alvarez: “I’m really happy to have him here. From the start, he’s known that he can count on me for whatever he needs. And I think we’ll start to see more of each other off the pitch because now we’re living close by.
Tough Midfield Partnership starting to develop – Alvarez and Rodriguez
“I think that’s what we Latinos do, right? Together, we make each other stronger, we grow, we want to push forward. I think that’s always been our mentality.”
On his midfield partner, Rodriguez confirms:
“I think he has grown a lot from when he started at América, where we played together, then going to Ajax. I’m sure he learned a lot, and now he’s a big player here at West Ham. He’s really important for us, for the whole team. He’s got much more to give to West Ham and to his national team and to achieve his own goals, because he’s doing really well and he’s got the potential to be even better.”
Looking at some of Alvarez’ work last Saturday, few would disagree: A bit of an unsung hero as per Gonzo’s earlier article.
Now we wait, to watch Rodriguez fully get up to ‘Premier League’ speed. That takes care of the defensive midfield section – the backbone.
Lopetegui gets to decide how and where to deploy Paqueta and probable understudy Carlos Soler to be the brains of the outfit and link up the play between defence and our forwards – which was lacking under the aforementioned ‘side-side-back’ double pivot.
If West Ham’s backbone can force Chelsea wide and stop them playing through the middle on Saturday then Lopetegui will have repeated his plan from Seville days. Will be an interesting ‘watch’.