West Ham United have certainly been under the cosh in the last days and weeks, as has manager Julen Lopetegui who still managed a smile at the press conference before the Premier League Trip to Brentford at the weekend, just a few hours from having to face the Media after his teams’ 5-1 dumping out of the Carling Cup at the hands of Liverpool.
Having injured his calf muscle during the animated angst and anguish he displayed on the sidelines watching his team surrender a goal lead to lose heavily, the Hammers Head Coach even managed a joke at his own expense:“I can’t play in this match! I have an injury in my calf, yes. But it’s not important.”
When discussing the forthcoming match against The Bees, Lopetegui confirmed that two would be missing from West Ham’s squad to travel to West London: :
“It is true that we had the red card for Edson [Alvarez], so for sure he is out. Füllkrug has not been available until now, so let’s see what happens between today and tomorrow.
Fullkrug’s injury on international duty has hampered West Ham’s attacking options
“Unfortunately he was not available on Wednesday, so we will have to wait but at the moment he is out with his calf. [It is] a little injury, but until now he is not available.”
It seems one of the perils of a recruitment policy including thirty-something year old players: Supporters will all know from personal experience how much longer bodies take to heal after 30.
The lack of impact which Danny Ings (main pic) managed to create yesterday would suggest a return to the fast mobile three forwards unit of Kudus, Summerville and Bowen which deserves space to grow and blossom. It was one of the few high points from the Chelsea visit to London Stadium last weekend.
