West Ham manager Nuno Espírito Santo has been left with a massive job on his hands following the news that winger Crysencio Summerville will not be fit to face Aston Villa.
The Dutchman missed last weekend’s game against Manchester City, and in many respects, it didn’t impact West Ham too much. Nuno switched to a back three, with Dinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Axel Disasi all performing brilliantly to help the Hammers earn a draw.
One unfortunate by-product of West Ham parking the bus was that we only mustered a single shot on target throughout the game, which thankfully we were able to score. Unfortunately, the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos, and Pablo posed little or no threat. Pablo in particular seemed to be taking up a left midfield role, which he applied himself to with his usual effervescent energy and dedication. The downside was the net result meant West Ham had little or no attack.
Big call for Nuno at Villa Park
We certainly won’t be able to produce that little threat at Villa Park, particularly in a game where a guaranteed win would move us out of the relegation zone, with Tottenham facing Nottingham Forest in a huge six-pointer.
Therefore, big decision for Nuno. Does he switch to four at the back and play Pablo in a more advanced position, or stick with three at the back but add a little bit more pace to the team with Adama Traoré coming in?
I think stick an extra body in midfield, maybe Kante to roam free rather than bulk the defence but I imagine he will go with the same as last week. It could work if we play it as a back 3, with the wing backs playing more as wingers. But through all our recent managers when we play that system it is used like a back 5 with additional defensive midfielders. It’s a painful watch and rarely gets us more than 1 point if any. I would like to see us go for the win even though a point wouldn’t be a disaster. But with spurs playing Forest we need to maximise the points difference that will come from that
Give Lamadrid a chance.
His natural position is on the left wing and he’s on an “option to buy” deal so seems only natural that we should be giving him a game to see how he’ll do.
Taty/Wilson, Lamadrid, Pablo and Bowen across the frontline, Fernandes and Soucek in the middle. Should get the job done.
If Lamadrid looks off the pace, bring on the man who only has pace and nothing else in Traore and we’ll likely quickly see Lamadrid looks like Lionel Messi comparatively…