AFTER their hard-won point in Thursday night, West Ham had some tired bodies on the Old Trafford pitch with just two days to recover ahead of the Brighton fixture this afternoon. Fabian Hurzeler had a vital 24 hours’ head start with his Brighton team having played – and lost – on Wednesday.
West Ham’s forward line looked done in. Callum Wilson’s high mileage legs somehow got him through 86 minutes and Jarrod Bowen completed another gruelling hour and a half of tireless sprinting up and down the length of the theatre of dreams.
Without Summerville, West Ham’s front line options look tired and leggy
With Niclas Fullkrug seemingly exiled to the ‘holding bay’ near the London Stadium exit door alongside JWP and Guido Rodriguez, Hurzeler’s plans to counter West Ham’s goal threat today were pretty straightforward. The Hammers were likely to employ Lucas Paqueta in the front line – but with a jaded Bowen and Wilson, the Irons never looked likely to send out an attacking team bristling with pace.
Wilson- surely cream crackers after Thursday night
However the cat and mouse will-he-won’t-he guessing game over Crysencio Summerville’s fitness took another worrying turn for Hurzeler yesterday. West Ham’s head coach had been playing down the chances of West Ham’s winger making it in time, Nuno declaring on Friday in a distinctly down beat assessment: “hopefully [he] returns soon. We miss him. We know what he gives to the team. Let’s see. We need all the players. I hope he can be back.”
Summerville, as is then current trend for Premier League players, took to social media yesterday with his own cryptic Instagram teaser suggesting the time is nigh: “When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen,”: Perhaps he’s ready to go, perhaps not.
At the every least, the threat of Summerville’s pace will make Brighton boss Hurzeler reconsider his plans today should the Hammers suddenly turn up with a pacy front line: Which is probably the whole point behind the post.
We do have options from the academy starting with Marshall or Fullkrug for Wilson, Fearon or Earthy for Bowen. Paqueta will be back for Soucek, Kilman and Julio are there if the CB’s need resting, Kante, Rodriguez and Irving could play a central role, KWP and possibly Scarles.
Might be some see these as inferior but Brighton will have leggy players too as they had a hard defeat against Villa and I would fancy the enthusiasm of our youth players to at least provide a surprise element to them.
The one that looks the most jaded in our team is Bowen if there is an opportunity to rest him we should consider it, perhaps give the armband to Fernandes who has a bit about him.