Friday night at Kenilworth Road will see David Moyes spoiled for choice for team selection choice for the the first time in a long while.
The manager has put himself in a position to select a hugely exciting team for the visit to Luton Town.
Having said that, given the performance at Brighton it will prove very difficult for him to rest any of those involved although the arrival of Mohammad Kudus will surely tempt the boss.
We are of course assuming that Michail Antonio does not find himself on the way to Saudi Arabia by then and I for one hope that is not the case as I believe he still has so much to offer West Ham.
It will also be difficult t drop Oggy who was in fine form at Brighton although I suspect the manager will bring Aguerd back from suspension.
Here’s the team I expect the manager to put out from the start: Areola; Coufal, Aguerd, Zouma, Emerson; Alvarez, Waes-Prowse, Paqueta, Soucek; Bowen, Antonio
Agree Buddy we look so much better with skillful options who can bring the ball forward quickly. That is how we beat Brighton. I would hope Soucek is now a sub on, Moyes loves his height in both boxes, but for me his poor ball control slows up the break out.
If Soucek starts, I’ll be amazed. We were far more balanced when he went off, with Alvarez playing that role and Paqueta moving back into the middle and Bennie coming on to fill his natural position.
I see us playing with Alvarez, JWP and Paqueta in the middle, with Bennie on the left and Bowen on the right. Kudus may come on for the last 20 minutes in place of Bennie to give him a run-out.
For me, Soucek is now just a back-up to Alvarez.
I’m not sure if Soucek’s injury was concussion related? If it was, isn’t there a a 7 day restriction on when he can play next? If there is, hopefully Benny will play and give us a more attacking option.