Unknown and Ignored Paceman Could Strike Fear into Forest

With the attention squarely on Crysencio Summerville after last week’s performance against Manchester United, it is abundantly clear that the young forward’s turn of speed and ability to run at defenders is a huge asset to West Ham: Indeed it emphasises the lack of pace elsewhere. Antonio is now regularly getting out-sprinted to long balls by opponents and our sluggish midfield  has already been well-lamented (by me) this week.

Watching the official West Ham training video this week I was struck by the pace of Luis Guilherme and again wondering when the youngster will get more match time. In training he can be seen playing fast. aggressive forward football and he’s already scored this season for the U21’s.

Regularly on the bench, is it time now for Lopetegui to start bringing Guilherme on in central or wide roles to keep our attack fresh in the last third of games when Antonio’s legs have gone? I’d see him as more of a threat than Danny Ings, simply by sticking to the adage of ‘do what your opponents want least’ – and bringing one of the fastest attackers in the league onto the pitch with 20 minutes to go would certainly unsettle most back lines.

Lopetegui has shown he’s not afraid of making changes through the game – with Kudus suspended surely the ‘Guilherme option’ offers that much-needed commodity at West Ham: Genuine attacking pace. He’d unsettle Forest’s coaches too, because I’ll bet they haven’t prepared or even discussed the possibility of facing the largely unknown speedster.

West Ham desperately need to find something unexpected to win this game, pundits are unanimous that a Forest victory looms. A spark from another pacy attacker alongside Summerville could certainly provide that extra inspiration – if Lopetegui is bold enough.