By Louis Nixon
**Since Nuno began his tenure at West Ham United, he’s played two fixtures in which he’s decided to put Niclas Fullkrug up front for both.**
But upon the international break, the Portuguese manager will be forced to change this due to his injury he sustained, and someone else will have to start up front.
West Ham are currently left with four ‘striker’ options, those being: Callum Marshall, Callum Wilson, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen.
None of these four names exactly suits Nuno’s preferred idea of a ‘target man’, so he’ll have to come up with another plan. None of the four also possess the height he desires, with the tallest being between Wilson and Paqueta, who are both 5’10 (1.8m)
With neither being tall enough nor having the physicality preference that he likes, it’s now simply down to Nuno’s choice, but going off his previous comments, it appears that Callum Marshall will get the nod. The staff that Nuno has now officially brought in all believe that Marshall can provide what they need.
Nuno also shares the same thoughts, which were demonstrated through his positive post-match Arsenal comments about the Northern Irishman:
“What I’ve been seeing in training sessions, his energy, he’s a good finisher, good mobility, he can recognise the gaps in the space, he has a good chance, even though he’s not a strong boy against a very tough centre-half, he managed to get the header, so I think we have something that we can use.”
There’s always a prospect that he could play Jarrod Bowen up front and start Guilherme out wide, Nuno used Guilherme against Everton, and the Brazilian had a rather decent 23-minute appearance.
If history is anything to go by, it seems that Wilson won’t start. His 0 minutes since Nuno’s arrival, and despite being down against Arsenal, he still opted to bring on Marshall and let Wilson remain on the bench.
It looks likely that playing Bowen upfront and putting Guilherme out wide or starting Marshall upfront will be the desired choice come the starting squad on Monday. Either way, it’s a high chance that Hammers fans will see someone play that we aren’t used to seeing.