Graham Potter’s decision to deploy Edson Álvarez as West Ham’s furthest forward midfielder in the Premier League loss to Newcastle was baffling, to say the least.
The Mexican midfielder is a stopper by trade—a central enforcer more suited to CDM, following his stint as a central defender at Club América. Álvarez has a tenacious, ‘never quit’ attitude, excellent drive, and a good eye for ball recovery.
But most would concede that the £33m signing from Ajax is not a subtle player suited to using his technique to open up an opposition defence.
Álvarez was far from the worst **West Ham** player during the 1-0 loss to Eddie Howe’s team, and he wasn’t even the Hammers’ worst midfielder on the night. But as square pegs in round holes go, the deployment of Edson as creator-in-chief was a huge error.
Unsurprisingly, [Jarrod Bowen](https://www.claretandhugh.info/jarrod-bowen-bio/) and Mohammed Kudus were completely isolated with no creativity behind them. Kudus tried his best, dropping deep to look for the ball, but it was a futile task with so many Newcastle defenders to beat.
I still haven’t really got over the fact that West Ham’s manager only played two attackers in a home game. Realistically, there was no need for that, with creative midfielders Carlos Soler and Lucas Paquetá on the bench. Sat alongside them, twiddling their thumbs, were Luis Guilherme and Potter’s supposed primary [transfer](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfer-news/) target, Evan Ferguson.
Unfortunately, instead, we had to endure Álvarez in attacking midfield when there were a multitude of other options. That is not a midfield I hope to see too many more times.