West Ham United are all set to take on Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
It has been a tough start to the 2024/25 season for West Ham, with a return of just four points from our opening five Premier League games, and an early exit from the Carabao Cup.
Julen Lopetegui is now said to be under real pressure ahead of the Premier League game against Brentford on Saturday.
That no surprise really – it’s the nature of modern day football. It’s a cut-throat business where only the strongest survive.
Lopetegui needs to get his new signings to gel together, otherwise this could be a long hard season for the Hammers.
A positive result against Brentford is an absolute must for West Ham now. I think we could well be in a strong position to pick up all three points.
And that’s not just because Brentford could be without up to eight key players…
Edson Alvarez absence a blessing in disguise for West Ham
West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez is due to miss the Bees clash through suspension.
The 26-year-old midfielder badly let down the fans, his teammates and the manager on Wednesday night up at Anfield.
Aaron Cresswell was openly critical of Alvarez after the Mexican received a needless red card with 15 minutes still to play against Liverpool.
Edson Alvarez let everyone down with his brainless tackle on Mohamed Salah that led to him being sent off.
And now he’s unavailable for selection this weekend. However, I reckon that could actually be a good thing for him and the Hammers at this moment in time.
I do actually rate Alvarez. I think he’s a very good player who has done a lot of good things for the Hammers.
However, the truth of the matter is that he has been abysmally poor so far this season.
Edson Alvarez miles off the pace for West Ham
The Mexico international has been reckless in the tackle, his passing has been poor and he just seems to be running around like a headless chicken.
Edson Alvarez has a lot of good attributes that help West Ham out a lot, but I really feel like his absence against Brentford could be a blessing in disguise for us.
He has actually become a liability over the past few games.
Let’s see what a midfield three of Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta looks like. Or who knows, maybe Lopetegui could throw Carlos Soler into the mix instead of Soucek?
We’ll find out tomorrow afternoon, but one player who definitely won’t be featuring is Edson Alvarez. This is a good match for him to miss in my opinion.
I hope he uses the time off to take stock and realise that he needs to improve massively.
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