West Ham fans have overwhelmingly demanded the inclusion of Callum Wilson in Nuno Espírito Santo’s starting line-up to face Arsenal on Sunday.
Yesterday, Claret and Hugh ran a story asking whether the former Magpies forward should start the next game at St James’ Park, and overwhelmingly 78% of West Ham fans believe he should.
But I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything like that level of support in favour of Wilson starting the game. With Taty Castellanos in reasonably good form, I thought it would be much closer to 50-50.
Wilson’s Sharp Cameos Winning Fans Over
Wilson has looked razor-sharp coming off the bench in recent games and even though his goal against Arsenal was chalked off by VAR, he was sharp enough to win the corner which preceded the controversial decision from Chris Kavanagh.
Wilson remains the Hammers’ most clinical finisher.
From my own perspective, I do worry about the injury-prone veteran striker starting games and certainly he would not be able to match the endeavour and physical output displayed by Castellanos and Pablo Felipe.
But as a fox in the box, he has little equal.
And to be fair to Wilson, we’re only really talking about a reputation for injury because for the most part, the free transfer signing from Newcastle United has been fit and available for most of the season.
Not Every West Ham Fan Agrees
Not all fans want to see him start though, it would be fair to say.
And just to play devil’s advocate, here is a comment from Nick Moore, who said:
“Complete madness to start Wilson who has very few minutes in his legs and even then he is easy to play against. You’re all ball watching and ignoring how much Pablo does for the team.”
To be fair to Pablo and fans who want to see Wilson in the team, I’m not sure anybody is ignoring what the January signing from Gil Vicente brings in terms of physical presence, work rate, pressing and closing down.
Most West Ham fans would concur with that appraisal.
But when it comes to finishing in the box, it is perfectly understandable why many would like to see what Wilson could do from the start of the game and if, and only if, he is given the correct service.
The reason Wilson is able to produce these odd moments in the final minutes of a game is because he has not had to spend the previous 75 running himself ragged. Scoring against a fresh Newcastle side will be harder, so it makes sense to use Pablo to do the early running. Pablo’s problem is his lack of finishing skills, so West Ham need to come up with an answer for that. Maybe that answer lies with Bowen and Summerville who are converting nothing between them playing as they are.
Morning Gonzo.
Firstly, you’re assuming we want Wilson to start in place of Taty, rather than Pablo with this comment:
“With Taty Castellanos in reasonably good form, I thought it would be much closer to 50-50.”
…but the quote from Nick points to us all wanting to see Pablo replaced.
Which in my head, is what I want to see. But Nick failed to acknowledge, as you quite rightly have, that we DO see what Pablo brings to the team with the pressing etc. We’re not ‘ball watching’ and to suggest that is a little patronising.
I would just rather see what Taty & Wilson can produce together, with Wilson’s excellent hold-up play and Taty’s energy and clearly better (than Pablo’s) finishing ability.
Bring Pablo on later when they’re tired – they won’t be able to handle him then.
Starting him could be precarious due to not having 90 mins in his legs.
He needs to be available for both remaining games any injury would put that in doubt.
Maybe bring him on at half time.
If Traore is not ruled out he also needs to be on bench not Killman.
No matter what opinions are Nuno will go his own way as he normally does.
Wilson’s appearance would be nostalgic.
Both Taty and Pablo wears the opposition down, Taty with constant movement and running and Pablo with chasing and physicality. This helps Wilson massively when he comes in at the end of games as there is fatigue in the opposition.
If Wilson stars then West Ham will need to dominate the game from the get-go. If not, Wilson will either be an exhausted fox or a fox in offside..
It is not a case of Wilson or Pablo. I wouldn’t start either. It is a must win game but there is no need to go gung ho. Start with same team as last week, keep in the game , try to score , then if we need a goal bring on Wilson at 60 minutes where he is at his best against tiring defences