6th February 2026 Daniel Luker (@danielluker_)
By Louis Nixon
Since Diouf’s AFCON return, he has jumped straight back into the starting squad, but against Burnley, should that change, given how crucial this upcoming fixture is for the Hammers?
Despite Malick Diouf once being viewed as a clear favourite, it had become evident that Ollie Scarles had begun to integrate himself into the squad, which saw him achieve two Premier League victories in a row for the Hammers, but upon Diouf’s return, we lost brutally against Chelsea… but that wasn’t entirely Diouf’s fault, was it?
In reality, everyone in that second half was shocking; no one deserves any applause and even if Scarles had started that game, I highly doubt that would’ve entirely prevented us from conceding three goals.
One issue that many people tend to forget is that Malick Diouf isn’t an official left back, he was brought in as a player to suit Graham Potter’s squad, which is a left sided player who’s can partly defend but his main role is to bring the ball forward and help with the attack, which is exactly what Malick Diouf is successful at doing. He’s a smaller player who’s more nimble with the ball, good at moving it up the field and good at getting through smaller areas, whereas Ollie Scarles is better defensively but less successful at attacking play. I do believe that against teams such as Spurs, it was more logical to play Scarles, even if we had the option of Diouf, simply due to the style of play.
I believe that if Nuno wants to start the games on the front foot, perhaps Malick Diouf would be the better choice, but if we wanted more control defensively, Ollie Scarles is certainly the better option, given that he naturally is attuned to those moments, and we need to utilise the variation we have on that left side efficiently and to the best of our abilities.
Against Burnley, it might be best to hit them on the front foot, they’re a side that have struggled to get themselves back into games, and if we can get the upper hand on them early doors, we might find ourselves in a winning position straight away, similarly to the Sunderland match. Ollie Scarles started against Sunderland and I think that first half was the definition of perfection. Therefore, against Burnley, I think Ollie Scarles should start on that basis.
Malick Diouf should be brought on as a reinforcement, however, it’s nice to have this variation in defence. It’s not something we’ve had as a club in a long time.