By Gonzo
Injury to Kurt Zouma has come at an inconvenient time for West Ham manager David Moyes, but has also provided an opportunity as well as a problem.
There is little doubt in my my mind that the Hammers boss has yearned to play with three centre backs for quite some time. On numerous occasions he has shoehorned left back Aaron Cresswell into a left sided centre half role, but it has always been a square peg in a round hole.
In an ideal world I believe the chosen participants in Moyes back three would have been Dawson, Zouma and Aguerd. However this has not been possible due to the hurried departure of Craig Dawson to Wolves and the injury to Kurt Zouma.
This has created an opportunity for Angelo Ogbonna which I din’t expect, and the former Italian international has grasped the chance with both hands.
This leaves one spot remaining (right centre-half) and I believe it’s Ben Johnson’s for the taking. Thilo Kehrer has been in disappointing form following a decent start to his Hammers career, he seems to gift the opposition at least one glaring opportunity every game.
The German international has also undergone a scan to assess the severity of an injury sustained at St James Park.
So opportunity knocks for Ben Johnson who is perfectly suited to the role. He’s a fine defender but not quite creative enough as a wing-back, but as part of a back three . . . he could make the position his own.
Ben is a good defender in spite of Moyes playing him in four different positions and never getting a run in the side. He Laks a bit as an attacking w/ B but his defending has been sound. For those who call him useless after filling in in so many positions I call foul – we don’t ask any established senior player to play either back, centre back or midfield in one off performances.
Never had a long run of games but equally not shown anything to demonstrate he’s good enough at the top level. It’s an area our opponents will look to exploit