West Ham’s team selection for tonight’s Premier League must-win game against Wolverhampton Wanderers is going to be fascinating.
There have been many times in recent years when a Hammers manager has had three games to save his job, but I’m struggling to recall an occasion when it all came down to one game.
That is precisely the position Julen Lopetegui finds himself in tonight, and that’s why we’re about to find out exactly who he trusts.
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If he has any doubts in his mind about the temperament of Edson Álvarez, the fitness of Niclas Füllkrug, the commitment of Jean-Clair Todibo, or the reliability of Lucas Paquetá, we’ll find out tonight.
It’s one of the reasons I expect Tomáš Souček to start for West Ham vs Wolves, as he is possibly the one player who can be completely relied upon. Souček has that whole ‘it does what it says on the tin’ thing about him, and I suspect Lopetegui would select eleven Součeks if he could.
Others who are guaranteed to start include captain Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Max Kilman, but the rest of the selections could be quite telling.
How Lopetegui has spent the last few days on the training pitch is anyone’s guess, but I’m sure there has been a very odd atmosphere at Rush Green. For the first time in recent memory, fans, owners, players, the media, and the man in the hot seat all know it’s a make-or-break game.
What happens over the 90-plus minutes will reveal an awful lot about the players’ characters—and indeed Lopetegui’s.