Brentford v West Ham United
The moment Edson Alvarez lunged into the tackle with Mo Salah and received his marching orders, Lopetegui had a problem on top of being down to ten men and going onto lose 5-1 at Anfield. The Premier League match which follows at Brentford would see Alvarez serving an automatic ban: Some would say he needs a chance to cool off but the team could certainly do without it just now.
West Ham’s midfield options are wafer thin and the head coach may have to make some very risky decisions- the last thing he’d want to do in this stressful, almost must-win predicament he finds himself in just a couple of months into the job. Finding two defensive midfielders and a third more attacking should be easy – but without Alvarez West Ham are in the brown stuff.
It feels like a mini crisis – And it’s only week six of the Premier League. Bet we regret loaning out Ward-Prowse now..
It wasn’t supposed to be like this! In the transfer window we rolled in and ‘secretly’ signed Guido Rodriguez, a World Cup winner and at just 30, without too many miles on the clock – as a direct ‘Alvarez partner’ or back up.
Trouble is, he’s a liability at the moment. Experienced he may be, hard tackler he is, but mobile as a parked car with its hand brake on and vulnerable to fast paced opposition. West Ham’s very own Maginot Line. (Go Google). So – ‘bench’ for him.
Paquetá in the midst of his betting crisis is a shadow of his former self. More liable to receive yellow cards than accolades for an assist.
Soler ? As an attacking midfielder / understudy for Paqueta, probably had the best start of the new intake of midfielders. But he only played his first start against Liverpool so very high risk – can he manage and bully a midfield? We have no idea.
Soucek? We know his defensive weaknesses and inability to play creatively out of the back – you’ll know Soucek is being a DM when we start playing backwards. Not his fault, just not his forté.
That leaves – Andy Irving. Made a debut few minutes in a couple of routs. But totally untested and an unknown quantity. Attacking? Holding? Defensive? Dare Lopetegui start with him – what pressure would that pile on both the player and his coach! Frankly, I’d be thinking of taking Lewis Orford along on the bench – Freddie Potts and George Earthy being out on loan means our cupboard is getting bare despite spending £130 million.
Unless Lopetegui makes the decision to play just 2 defensive midfielders and 4 up front: Brave in itself: without a creative midfielder are we ready for 90 minutes of hoof ball? There’s no easy solution to getting the ball up to our front men without a playmaker. Which we suddenly don’t seem to have.
Alvarez is booked far too often, it needs to reduce.
I don’t have an answer to the issue, all answers seem to have drawbacks. We have too many players short on premier league experience is not Lopeteguis fault as we were needing to rebuild this window whoever the manager was.
Agree with your assessment Martin!
It’s a complicated situation, whichever way you look at it.
We all know it takes time for a “team” to gel, but that doesn’t stop us hoping for the best every time – can’t help the claret and blue blood running through the veins!
Couple of players are defo guilty of too many cards and need work to adjust their games quickly.
Agree with John’s comments, too – we know Alvarez has got a rep for reds, but he needs to balance the respect from Hammers fans for someone who gives their all, with a level head and avoidance of stupid stuff.
Currently he’s not doing so well in the latter.
Can we get Ginge or Dawson back?!?
As for the team selection for Brentford… Beats me, man.
Let’s see some of the new guys step up and take accountability as well as a fat paycheck, eh?
Can’t say I agree and take a polar stance on this: –
Guido Rodriguez – World class and won’t be long before he’s up to premier league speed.
Paquetá – Has proved he’s the key to unlocking defences.
Soler – Unproven as yet but obviously good enough.
Soucek – Has his critics (me included) but has proved himself time and time again to be a valued asset.
Andy Irving – The hidden gem, had a cracking pre-season and has looked confident when given the chance.
“West Ham’s midfield options are wafer thin” … mmm … three out of those five perfectly viable options feels closer to an embarrassment of riches to me.
I see that last week Flynn Downes was captaining Southampton and maybe we shouldn’t have sent Freddy Potts out on loan
Let’s hope that J-Lo finds a way of winning with the players at this disposal
COYI
How about a 3-3-2-2? Maybe it will stiffen up the defence and midfield, but also open up a route through to two nice old fashioned centre forwards who can spin out wide on a break if needed and allow the “two” number 10s to go through the middle :
Areola
Mav, Todibo, Kilman
Wan-Bissaka, Rodriguez, Emerson
Kudus, Paqueta
Bowen, Summerville
The problem is that I’m sure they wouldn’t have trained for this, and maybe I just have rose tinted glasses on in a parallel footballing universe.
I think if the full backs play as full backs and not wingers then the loss of Alvarez will be lessened. Hopefully the result will be better than last weeks debacle