Brentford v West Ham United
The moment Edson Alvarez lunged into the tackle with Mo Salah and received his marching orders, Lopetegui had a problem on top of being down to ten men and going onto lose 5-1 at Anfield. The Premier League match which follows at Brentford would see Alvarez serving an automatic ban: Some would say he needs a chance to cool off but the team could certainly do without it just now.
West Ham’s midfield options are wafer thin and the head coach may have to make some very risky decisions- the last thing he’d want to do in this stressful, almost must-win predicament he finds himself in just a couple of months into the job. Finding two defensive midfielders and a third more attacking should be easy – but without Alvarez West Ham are in the brown stuff.
It feels like a mini crisis – And it’s only week six of the Premier League. Bet we regret loaning out Ward-Prowse now..
It wasn’t supposed to be like this! In the transfer window we rolled in and ‘secretly’ signed Guido Rodriguez, a World Cup winner and at just 30, without too many miles on the clock – as a direct ‘Alvarez partner’ or back up.
Trouble is, he’s a liability at the moment. Experienced he may be, hard tackler he is, but mobile as a parked car with its hand brake on and vulnerable to fast paced opposition. West Ham’s very own Maginot Line. (Go Google). So – ‘bench’ for him.
Paquetá in the midst of his betting crisis is a shadow of his former self. More liable to receive yellow cards than accolades for an assist.
Soler ? As an attacking midfielder / understudy for Paqueta, probably had the best start of the new intake of midfielders. But he only played his first start against Liverpool so very high risk – can he manage and bully a midfield? We have no idea.
Soucek? We know his defensive weaknesses and inability to play creatively out of the back – you’ll know Soucek is being a DM when we start playing backwards. Not his fault, just not his forté.
That leaves – Andy Irving. Made a debut few minutes in a couple of routs. But totally untested and an unknown quantity. Attacking? Holding? Defensive? Dare Lopetegui start with him – what pressure would that pile on both the player and his coach! Frankly, I’d be thinking of taking Lewis Orford along on the bench – Freddie Potts and George Earthy being out on loan means our cupboard is getting bare despite spending £130 million.
Unless Lopetegui makes the decision to play just 2 defensive midfielders and 4 up front: Brave in itself: without a creative midfielder are we ready for 90 minutes of hoof ball? There’s no easy solution to getting the ball up to our front men without a playmaker. Which we suddenly don’t seem to have.