West Ham United are keeping their cards very close to their chest regarding Crysencio Summerville’s latest injury. Originally described as a ‘knock’, it clearly isn’t anything of the sort with the winger now set to miss his third game in a row, with no sign of the Dutchman in any training ground activity.
According to Nuno Espírito Santo at West Ham’s pre-match press conference, addressing Summerville’s chances of being fit for tomorrows Old Trafford encounter:
“I don’t think so, unfortunately. We’ll assess him, but for Thursday, I think it’s going to be too soon.”
With West Ham fans bracing themselves for another toothless attacking performance tomorrow without Summerville’s pace and directness, Luis Guilherme likely gets another chance to step up – but the gulf between the two can’t be denied.
Quite how Nuno expects to carry his West Ham side up the pitch, without playing Areola hoofball for half a season is unclear with a limited squad at his disposal.
West Ham without Summerville are toothless
Which will only rekindle the ‘Adama Traore’ argument.
He may not be a prolific goalscorer – he may not even possess the Michail Antonio striker’s instinct – but he may be a necessary evil at a budget price in January if Nuno’s side are to carry any goal threat into the relegation battle ahead.
Without Summerville, West Ham look one-dimensional with Bowen alone over-burdened with defensive duties and trying to break free of the doubled- up defenders stationed to cut out his forward movement.
West Ham at present are an easy target: Stop Bowen and you stop the team.
Traore at least (and it isn’t an easy thing to admit if you’ve read my previous thoughts ) offers an outlet and an alternative to endless ‘hoofball’. Without the guarantee of Summerville’s pace I suspect the Hammers need an alternative without breaking the bank. So I guess Nuno will get to choose whether he wants his 29 year old speedster to head to east London: We’ll have to swallow objections and back the manager. And the player.
Great opportunity for Guilherme to try and show why he should be given a place in the team. Bring Traore in you hamper any opportunities for the younger lads. I happen to think personally Marshall would be great on the left side. I’ve seen him playing a similar role cutting in from the left while playing for the youth team and I thought he was great at it.
I don;t know for sure, but I would imagine that Summerville must be sick and tired of seeing that pathetic picture you keep posting, of him being consoled with a cuddle from the boss. That may not be how it actually was, but as we all know, a picture is a snapshot in time and has no context. I can’t imagine it does a lot for his self-esteem.
LG was great when he came on on Sunday, he likes to break into space and will carry the ball if given the chance.
One problem is that the newly acquired players are better suited to Graham Potter’s system than to Nuno’s. Unfortunately, this has the consequence that Bowen doesn’t quite get to showcase his true abilities. Bowen is an incredibly explosive player, one of the very best. His qualities are not fully utilized under Nuno’s counter-attacking style. The idea behind Hermansen was probably also for the team to maintain control of the ball in the positional system that Graham Potter favored. In my opinion, the best thing for West Ham would be for Nuno to instead use Graham Potter’s system, which De Zerbi successfully implemented at Brighton with some modifications.
Theres NO WAY that should happen. Potter was actually SACKED because of his poor performance as a Manager and now you expect Nuno to adopt his style ??? I can’t begin to image whatever possessed you into thinking that THAT was a good idea
No denying Summerville pace but Guilherme is not far behind..
Over 100m race there’s not much difference.
It’s how the two players apply it and Summerville is far more explosive.
Perhaps Guilherme might grow into a second Summerville given the chance (not backup or cameos!)
Nuno needs a stronger bench and bring in more academy players not players on fringe of leaving.