**West Ham manager Nuno Espírito Santo has a big call to make vs Manchester City after Summerville injury news.**
West Ham were dealt a huge blow against Brentford and Crysencio Summerville got injured. However, it could have been worse, he is only expected to be out for a couple of weeks.
But this leaves Nuno with a huge dilemma ahead of another crucial game against Pep Guardiola and City.
With nine matches left, we remain in the relegation zone, so every game is almost a must win now, even against Manchester City. However, that’s become even harder with the news of the Dutchman’s injury.
What should the Hammers do to replace their most in-form player? The obvious answer would be Adama Traore.
The Spaniard has had a couple of very good games against Guardiola’s City in the past, he has caused them havoc on occasion. And after a half decent first-half performance against Brentford last time out he could well be in with a chance of a Premier League start.
However, I personally wouldn’t start him. I’d much rather have him as an option off the bench, where he can be more affective.
Not starting Adama would mean a lack of pace, only Diouf would be considered ‘fast’ of players in our starting lineup. And in a game that we will be counter attacking a lot in could be risky.
However, I think we should take that risk, or is it even a risk? Adama Traore has not looked good for a couple of years, let alone in claret and blue.
I think Nuno should start Kyle Walker-Peters in place of Summerville. He could either start KWP on the left of midfield in a 4-4-2, remember he did come on in a similar position earlier in the season and score against Burnley.
However, I’d opt for KWP at left-back and El Hadji Malick Diouf as the left midfielder. It would allow him to get further up the pitch to cross the ball and utilise his pace more. He probably wouldn’t be any worse than Adams in terms of offensive output, and would be 100x more effective defensively.
This might be controversial and sound quite ‘defensive’, however, I think it would be a wise decision not to do the straight swap, Crysencio Summerville for Adama Traore.