By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Caught up in the hullabaloo of West Ham’s team announcement last night ahead of the Carabao Cup fixture against Fulham was the fans’ very own version of Where’s Wally? Except on this occasion it was a case of: where the hell is Edvin Austbø?
The Norwegian winger was not only absent from the starting line-up but the squad as a whole. With Nuno Espírito Santo stringing four central midfielders across the middle of the park and not starting with any wingers at all, it was indeed a mystery why one of West Ham’s biggest signings of the summer, and a player chased relentlessly by Nils Koppen, was nowhere to be seen.
Some have attributed Austbø’s disappearance to comments made last week in which he indicated the Hammers were a stepping stone to greater things. Speaking to West Ham Zone, via Stavanger Aftenblad, the winger made his ambitions pretty clear.
“The goal is to reach the Premier League, and that’s West Ham’s plan too. I’d like to play for an even bigger club in the future, even though West Ham is huge.
“The goal is to become so good they sell me, but first, we’re going to achieve a few things along the way.”
Did Austbø’s comments upset Nuno?
Personally, I’m not so sure.
After all, Malick Diouf said far worse last season and was still selected by Espírito Santo. Saying that, once it became clear Aaron Wan-Bissaka favoured international football over a relegation scrap, ruthless Nuno hardly selected the right-back again.
Indeed, Wan-Bissaka’s relationship with Nuno deteriorated to the point where there was really no way back, so we know the West Ham boss is perfectly capable of making brutal selection decisions.
West Ham lacked balance at times on the flanks against Fulham and the League Cup would have seemed an ideal opportunity to include Austbø. But the fact that Keiber Lamadrid wasn’t selected either leaves me wondering whether the decision was tactical rather than anything else.
Kante played left midfield for West Ham
West Ham source plays down Austbø absence
Claret & Hugh did approach a source about Austbø’s omission and were informed cryptically: “Don’t read too much into it.”
And I’m inclined to agree.
There was a similar reaction when Lewis Orford disappeared completely from the Hammers squad a couple of weeks ago. He was subsequently recalled and is clearly still in Nuno’s plans.
Austbø has already shown glimpses of what he can offer since arriving in East London, including a goal and an assist against Derby. One unexplained absence is certainly curious, particularly given his comments last week, but for now that’s all it is.
For the moment, I’m going to assume the new signing hasn’t done a Marco Boogers.
It definitely seemed tactical, but it also definitely didn’t work. Good job it was a cup game. Hopefully we will return to using our excellent wide players, and something of Boiro, on Saturday.
Hardly a mystery I’d suggest. The Norwegian league runs from March to November so before joining us he would have played the best part of a season already. By joining us he’s made his season potentially fourteen months long – March to the following May. To avoid burning him out presumably we’ll look for opportunities to rest him.