It’s another week and another must-win game for West Ham and Julen Lopetegui.
While Monday’s victory over Wolves was much-needed, the performance wasn’t a particularly convincing one and it was widely accepted that better opponents on the night would’ve punished us.
On top of that, Wolves were let down heavily by two incredibly bad VAR decisions that robbed them of at least one penalty, if not two.
So there’s still lots of work to be done by Lopetegui to prove that he is the man to turn things around and get West Ham back to competing in the top eight of the Premier League table.
Anything less than all three points at Bournemouth on Monday night could spell the end of his short reign in the London Stadium dugout, with reports suggesting Graham Potter is ready and waiting to takeover at any moment.
But it’s not going to be easy. If anything, it’s a big ask. The Cherries have lost just twice at home in the league this season and have already beaten the likes of Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham on home soil. Andoni Iraola has got Bournemouth playing some very good football, especially at home, so it’s going to require arguably the best performance of the season from Lopetegui’s players if they’re to come away with a victory.
There have been some very faint signs that the players are beginning to get used to what the new boss is asking of them. They look far less out-of-sorts and confused with their roles on the pitch and the overall system and formation no longer looks as disjointed and unbalanced as it did in the first couple of months of the campaign. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.
So what West Ham starting XI has the best chance of beating Bournemouth on Monday night?
Lopetegui only has Michail Antonio injured at the moment, after his road traffic accident last weekend, and will be delighted to be able to finally have Niclas Fullkrug available again after three months sidelined with an achilles injury.
Some fans might be calling for the Germany international to be handed his first Premier League start, but my hunch is that Lopetegui will opt against that and will instead play Jarrod Bowen through the middle from the start, as he did against Wolves.
Bowen is more effective from the right, we all know that, but moving him to the right once a striker is introduced later on in the game may be have a similar impact to bringing on an impact sub. He’ll be able to offer us something different if we’re in a stage of the game when we need a goal or are giving Bournemouth particular problems in the final third.
jarrod bowen celebrates goal vs Wolves
Elsewhere, Emerson is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Wolves. That will likely lead to Vladimir Coufal being brought in at right-back, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka switching over to the left of the defence, which he has done in the latter stages of some games this season.
The more obvious option would be to bring in Aaron Cresswell at left-back and keep Wan-Bissaka at right-back, but Cresswell hasn’t had much gametime this season and Coufal offers an element of defensive stability on the right side of defence that we haven’t had much of this term.
At the centre of defence, Mavropanos had a really solid game last week and deserves to keep his place alongside Max Kilman, with Jean-Clair Todibo remaining on the bench.
In midfield, I think it’ll be the same as the one that started against Wolves. Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek give us stability in midfield, while Carlos Soler has been improving with every game. Lucas Paqueta just isn’t in form and didn’t look interested when he was introduced from the bench last week. Lopetegui needs players who want to play, so Soler is the most obvious choice in the No.10 role.
Mohammed Kudus and Crysencio Summerville on either wing, while Bowen deputises through the middle, is an obvious selection. Summerville was particularly impressive against Wolves, so he deserves to keep his place.
So below is the starting XI and formation I expect Lopetegui to go with against Bournemouth. What do you think?
WEST HAM PREDICTED XI V BOURNEMOUTH