Scott Parker’s West Ham Training Plans Hit By International Call-Ups

Much has been made of the two-week international break giving Scott Parker his first proper opportunity to work with his West Ham players. Having taken charge just before the Cardiff City match, the new Hammers manager has barely had time to get his feet under the table, let alone implement his preferred tactics.

However, the truth is that Parker’s supposed two-week opportunity on the training pitch is nowhere near as useful as it sounds. West Ham have had ten first-team squad members called up for international duty, leaving the manager without several players who would ordinarily be involved in his starting XI.

Mads Hermansen, Tomáš Souček, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Manor Solomon, Joël Piroe and Mohamadou Kanté have all been selected for senior international duty. Edvin Austbø, Divine Mukasa, Airidas Golambeckis and Finlay Herrick were also named in age-group squads, although Herrick has subsequently withdrawn from England’s Under-20 squad, with the FA citing ‘injury’ as the reason.

West Ham’s Available Training XI

That leaves Parker with a rather makeshift group of players to work with, although it should at least provide opportunities for others to press their claims for a starting place.

Assuming everybody is fit and available, the following is a possible starting eleven Parker could assemble on the training ground during the international break.

Formation: 4-3-3

It’s not a bad group of players by any means, and the likes of Lewis Orford and Josh Ajala should welcome the chance to impress their new manager. However, it’s a long way from the team Parker is likely to select when West Ham face Preston North End.

Parker Cannot Even Work With His First-Choice Defence

Even something as straightforward as drilling the defence is going to be difficult. Whilst Morato can slot into a makeshift back four alongside Kilman, the likelihood is that Mavropanos will be Parker’s preferred centre-back when everybody is available.

And even if Mavropanos were to suffer an injury, I’d expect Golambeckis to be considered ahead of Morato. Unfortunately, both players are away representing their countries, meaning Parker cannot even work with what I suspect will be his first-choice defensive partnership or its most likely alternative.

It’s a similar story further forward, where Mukasa, Kanté, Austbø and Piroe are all missing. These are players Parker will need to assess and integrate into his preferred system, yet he’ll have precious little opportunity to do so before the Preston match.

Of course, there are positives. Parker can still work on his overall shape, passing patterns and defensive organisation, whilst giving some of the younger players an opportunity to impress.

But the idea that West Ham’s new manager has been handed two uninterrupted weeks to transform his team is somewhat misleading. He has time on the training pitch, certainly, but not with many of the players he’ll actually need when the Championship resumes.