Nuno Espirito Santo faces a selection dilemma at West Ham United, and a welcome one at that.
Indeed, most of Nuno’s reign as West Ham manager has been difficult. Things do look like improving, however.
On Saturday, West Ham beat Sunderland 3-1 to record a hugely important win at the bottom of the Premier League table.
Safety is in sight 😍 Who was your MOTM?!
The Hammers welcomed back El Hadji Malick Diouf from Senegal’s victorious Africa Cup of Nations campaign, though the defender started on the bench.
Based on the performance of Ollie Scarles, he might need to remain there next weekend against Chelsea.
Nuno hails Malick Diouf – but he faces a battle with Ollie Scarles for a starting berth
Before the Sunderland game, Diouf was welcomed back by supporters at the London Stadium as an African champion.
After it, Nuno told West Ham’s official website: “He’s now in the history books of football. And it’s good to have him back, he gives us more options, gives us more energy. It [AFCON] was a spell that we didn’t have our full-backs here.
“So we asked a lot of Kyle [Walker-Peters] and Ollie. And now we have more options, more energy.”
Diouf did replace Scarles with around 20 minutes to play, by which point the game was largely won after Sunderland failed to immediately build on Brian Brobbey’s header.
There’s little doubt that Diouf has impressed since joining West Ham but his form had tailed off before he departed for the AFCON.
Comment on where you now think West Ham will finish in the Premier League 👇
We are staying up 🎵
Scarles, meanwhile, has hardly put a foot wrong since making a big mistake against Fulham in December.
Though having strength in depth is obviously a good thing, Scarles impressed against Sunderland.
Yes, he may have been at fault for the goal, but he did win the penalty from which Jarrod Bowen scored West Ham’s second.
Diouf, meanwhile, is arguably more comfortable when playing as a wing-back, a system West Ham have simply not deployed in recent games.
Ollie Scarles stats vs Sunderland
This isn’t to say that Scarles is absolutely perfect. As a young player, no one would expect him to be.
The same could be said about Diouf, too.
As per FotMob data, Scarles made four tackles, two interceptions, three ball recoveries and won all six of his ground duels.
Impressively, he wasn’t dribbled past either.
In this system, there’s little to suggest that Diouf would offer an instant improvement.
Either way, having two players battling it out for a starting berth can only be a positive thing for Nuno.
Scarles has improved defensively at West Ham and will surely fancy his chances of starting against Chelsea next weekend.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
