Injuries give the likes of Obiang and Ogbonna the chance to shine, says Iain
If Harry Redknapp were still at West Ham there would be a lot of talk of ‘bare bones’. We lost three players to injury last night. Winston Reid is out for a month, Chiekh Kouyate will certainly miss the Norwich game, as will Joey O’Brien. With Lanzini, Tomkins, and Sakho out too, that’s quite a lot of players to lose. At one point last night it looked as if both James Collins, Enner Valencia and Andy Carroll might have to retire from the match, but they all managed to run off their injuries.
Luckily for us, the club did some brilliant work in the summer to ensure that we remain covered in all positions. And of course, when there are injuries it gives others the opportunity to shine. We should remember that this is how both Lanzini and Antonio have seized their chances.
I suspect the lineup against Norwich will look something like this…
Adrian
Ogbonna
Collins
Byram
Cresswell
Noble
Song
Obiang
Payet
Carroll or Valencia
Antonio
To me, that is still a very strong looking side even without Tomkins, Reid, Lanzini and Sakho.
The future is very bright. Unless Ogbonna and Collins both get injured!