Huge respect to West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville, who overcame the disappointment of not making the starting line-up against Manchester United.
The £25 million signing had seemed a clear choice for the starting eleven after it was announced that Mohammed Kudus would be suspended for at least three games following his red card against Spurs.
Summerville has shown patience this season, playing as understudy to Kudus, who took longer than expected to find form. So, in the Ghanaian’s absence, it was reasonable to assume that the former Leeds winger would be rewarded with a stint on the left wing. Unfortunately it was not to be as Julen Lopetegui surprisingly selected Carlos Soler instead.
Nevertheless, Summerville handled Soler being chosen over him with grace and aimed to prove his manager wrong in the best way possible—on the pitch.
The winger not only scored a goal but also added much-needed direct running and, most importantly, pace to the Hammers’ attack. He immediately unsettled Manchester United’s defence, carrying a real threat.
While it remains uncertain whether Lopetegui will be convinced enough to start Summerville, he showed plenty of variety in his game to warrant consideration. Not only did he dribble and pass with attacking intent, but he also delivered a couple of excellent crosses and created enough confusion to draw fouls from Erik ten Hag’s defenders.
Though I still feel West Ham aren’t playing cohesively as a team yet, there are individual performances I genuinely enjoy watching, and Summerville is certainly one of them.
