With the negative headlines of late concerning Lopetegui, Steidten, Sullivan and stories of possible candidates to replace the head coach, the impending arrival of Manchester United on Sunday comes as something of a relief. Our squad and coaching team have no doubt been keeping true to their word to ‘work hard’ to overcome the errors and poor performance of last weekend and one area that has come under particular scrutiny is the Hammers’ midfield.
Many pundits and commentators suggested it was the trio of Rodriguez Paquetá and Soucek who failed to work effectively and it seems that Lopetegui is planning to make changes to the middle in a bid to make West Ham more robust. Reports abound of a recall in particular for Edson Alvarez.
Not shy of controversy himself this season with a sending off following two yellow cards against Liverpool in the Carling Cup, ‘threats to kill’ an opponent and a yellow card for fighting whilst on international duty, Alvarez sometimes looks like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode into another rash tackle and another yellow card.
If recalled, he will be playing under intense scrutiny and – quite probably, considerable provocation from the opposition to see if he is another Hammer ready to blow a fuse and get himself sent off.
The Mexican enjoyed a great run under David Moyes, seemingly an ever-present in West Ham’s midfield providing solidity yet being able to stay – most of the time – on the right side of the referee apart from the small issue of thirteen Premier League yellow cards to his name.
At his best, Alvarez is an exceptional midfielder who has the ability to be strong in the challenge and aggressive going forward. Lopetegui needs ‘El Machin’ to exercise some self discipline and deal with his wayward temper for the sake of his team-mates and the club that pays his wages.
The game against Manchester United gives Alvarez an opportunity to prove that he has it in him to step up both for himself and for the team to start putting some results together so that we can all start looking up the table and not down.
