There wasn’t much to be positive about as West Ham capitulated to Chelsea in the derby at the London Stadium. Unfortunately, there was plenty wrong with the performance, which saw the Hammers fortunate to only concede three goals in a game that should have ended 5-1.
However, in the interests of positivity and balance, it’s only right and proper to praise the one bright spark on a dull day: Crysencio Summerville.
The diminutive Dutchman was by far West Ham’s best player on the day and one of only two at the end of the game to clap all four sides of the ground before leaving the pitch (the other was Tomas Soucek).
But more importantly, the £25 million signing from Leeds United was the only player to consistently test a Chelsea defence that was enjoying an easy day at the office.
Summerville looked fit, fast, sharp, and decisive, and he also seemed to form a decent partnership with Emerson on the left-hand side of West Ham’s team. As a by-product of his selection, Mohammed Kudus was deployed on the right-hand side of the Hammers’ midfield and, for at least 45 minutes, looked something resembling his old self.
I won’t get too caught up with the reasons why Hammers’ gaffer Julen Lopetegui withdrew our best player from the action because it would inevitably lead to more negativity. But suffice to say, West Ham’s attack got considerably worse when Summerville was substituted, which is a testament to how well he played in a struggling team.
The 22-year-old is incredibly skilful, has a quick change of direction, and doesn’t seem too concerned by the systematic fouling that his style of play predictably encourages. In many respects, the Dutch winger is the only player who has earned his place in West Ham’s next team on merit, and it’ll be interesting to see if Lopetegui agrees.
Try as one might, you cannot dodge “the Lopetegui decision making”. To date it has been extremely poor, and went to another level against Chelsea.
And without opening the whole can of worms, Summerville’s long wait for a start and substitution is totally ridiculous and got the reaction from the crowd, it deserves.
The new coach needed to sit with learned minds like Noble and some senior players to get a handle on current player profiles and forms … esp Antonio + Soucek.
The Lopetegui honeymoon is over, and a serious nightmare has commenced. Lord, help us !
The worrying thing is that having made a lot of mistakes including the tactics here he brings Summerville off? Brings on Soucek, Antonio, Cresswell, Irving and Soler to make things worse! You could cope better with bad results if you can understand what the manager is doing,currently really do not.
That’s right only one earning his money.we spent 155 million and we don’t play what we spent no excuses these players are fit they passed medical before they signed.manager says not upto premier standard yet they won’t be if they don’t play…