Julen Lopetegui has been swift to change his line ups, in midfield some forced by suspensions in Alvarez’ case, sometimes through tactical adaptations. We’ve seen several starters including Alvarez, Carlos Soler, Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek along with Lucas Paquetá either centrally or drifting free-style.
Soler seems to be growing in stature and fitness when brought on and – as Gonzo suggested yesterday – is a natural replacement for Lucas Paquetá if the Brazilian remains as disinterested or distracted as he appeared at Brentford.
Once a hopefully chastened Alvarez returns from his suspension – and both return from International duty (Paquetá’ selection is confirmed, Alvarez’ also just today) – Lopetegui has a decision to make about creating a midfield that is fast enough and both combative and creative to take on Tottenham and Manchester United who lie in wait for The Hammers in October.
Andy Irving is keen for more game time
Andy Irving has so far been a bit-part player with a couple of substitute appearances and I wonder if his importance is about to be highlighted with more game time. Guido Rodriguez looks adequate at best – Irving offers something different but as yet we haven’t seen what his country’s association deems worthy of a call up to the Scotland XI.
Edinburghnews.com confirmed last week :”Scottish Football Association officials are watching the West Ham United midfielder Andy Irving with a view to a future international call-up.”
Irving himself is upbeat and loving life as a Premier League footballer under Lopetegui – with all the talk of friction and bust-ups, the Scot was both reassuring and positive about the dressing room and coaching environment as he explained to whufc after his debut: “The ideas the coaches are trying to implement are really good, and we’re doing our best to make it work.”
Expect more match time minutes for the 24 year old. ‘The Invisible Man’ as we dubbed him may be on our screens and on the pitch a lot more during the Autumn. Somehow Lopetegui needs to pick the permutation that will give him mobility, creativity and combativeness in midfield. So far, it’s been hard to get all three at the same time.
Guido is only fit to be barely adequate as a sub for Alvarez. The midfield should consist of Alvarez, Irving and Paqueta/Soler.
Soucek should be played as a sub and as far away from our goal as possible. I love Tommy but a limited role as a super sub seems best.
I’m pleased to see Lopetgui having enough about him to substitute Kudus & Paqueta and not pandering to the throwing the toys out of the pram – hopefully he can get a tune out of them soon and Irving or Lewis Orford have got to be better options than either Soucek or Rodriguez
Andy Irving comes across as a hard working lad without frills or ego. His background proves he is a model professional, prepared to go abroad to gain more experience. We saw in pre-season that he has a fabulous left foot. The call up for the Scotland squad will do wonders for his confidence and I hope he gets to play. Well done Andy.