Sitting on the sidelines for the first few games of the season, West Ham’s season-long loanee from Paris St Germain could be forgiven for being frustrated. Yet Carlos Soler hadn’t undergone a full pre-season and was not considered ready by Lopetegui. Still, eight games in, the player who has become a regular substitute is looking for, and should be getting more game time.
Forget the massive wages he is receiving. Here is a former Spain international who at just 27 has bags of experience, adequate pace and versatility. Speaking to Marca.com before the last ignominious defeat in North London, Soler stressed he was not here to warm the bench: “I want to play and I come here to be important. To do this, I need to enter the team as soon as possible to find that continuity that every player needs to be able to give his best level.
It is difficult to reach that level without continuity. We are not robots. That’s what I come to. To be important, to have continuity and to be able to demonstrate the level that I already offered in the past by going to the National Team”.
Soler spoke of Lopetegui’s less disciplined, more fluid style of play which is causing The Hammers so much trouble to adopt just now,“Julen gives you a little more freedom. It’s not so positional. He wants us to move the ball until we find the moment to attack“.
Wheras his old PSG Manager has a much more concrete approach:” Luis Enrique has a very strong idea based on the position game. He gives you guidelines, tells you about tactics… and the roles are very defined regardless of the player who executes it at all times. All players have to know what is being done in all positions.”
Veiled criticism or just contrasting styles? The Hammers could do with some ‘defined roles’ just now.
What is clear is that Soler has a need to play and is too big an asset to be used sporadically off the bench. Whether as a number 10 or a more central midfielder, and with Lucas Paquetá all over the place right now, Carlos has a job to do for West Ham this season.
Do we expect him to be starting against Manchester United? Lopetegui need to see with his eyes what everyone seems to be telling him at the moment, that his ‘magician’ in midfield Lucas Paquetá has run out of magic for the time being. In fact, he’s become something of a liability.
There is something fundamentally wrong at West Ham.When you see teams like Brighton,Bournemouth,Fulham and Brentford being largely successful on limited budgets and yet West Ham spending millions and struggling it suggests the root cause is at the top.What is needed is management who are able to build a team rather than a group of individuals.
Yet strangely Soler is the player who looks the happiest even though he’s a substitute. Whereas some players, Rodriguez for instance, look positively miserable to be in the starting eleven.