Former West Ham United star Joe Cole was just happy to see Nuno Espirito Santo’s selection ‘gamble’ pay off as the Premier League outfit narrowly avoided going for a Burton in the FA Cup fourth round.
Nuno made ten changes from the side that held Manchester United to a midweek draw.
Keiber Lamadrid and Mohamadou Kante started for the first time, while the likes of Adama Traore, Kyle Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson came in for Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and eventual matchwinner Crysencio Summerville.
Summerville peerless at the Pirelli!
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Bowen was not even on the bench. Ditto Mateus Fernandes and Tomas Soucek.
So while this is not a game many will look back on with much fondness – Lamadrid and Kante struggled to make an impression while Adama and Soungoutou Magassa wasted a chance to force their way into the team on a more consistent basis – Joe Cole would rather focus on the positives.
No injuries, a place in the draw for round five, and another ‘solid’ display from teenage defender Ezra Mayers.
Joe Cole says Ezra Mayers was ‘solid’ as West Ham United beat Burton Albion
Mayers, who only turned 19 in January, started as part of a back three in Staffordshire. He would move forward into a wider, more attacking role as the game progressed, and very nearly doubled West Ham’s lead in extra time shortly after Summerville kept his stunning run going.
“Listen, it’s a different team to the team that put together three wins in five in the Premier League,” Cole said on TNT Sports. “The mindset of the players coming in, they are thinking, ‘I need to show something.’
“It’s very difficult if you’ve got four or five players doing that. All of a sudden, it looks disjointed. Nuno will know he took a risk, but it’s a tick in the box; You’re in the hat, there doesn’t seem to be any injuries, so it’s a very good weekend for West Ham.
“It was a game for Soucek. If we had Soucek, he would be on the pitch making an impact, and Bowen. But the young boys did OK.
“Mayers in particular. I want to give him a shout out because he looked really solid in that position.
“I’m grasping at things. [It was a] big gamble from Nuno, leaving all those players out of the team, but he got the job done.”
Freddie Potts’ red card was the right call, Cole says
Hammers survive a scare in Staffordshire! 🏆 🫣
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The one real negative, of course, was a late red card for Freddie Potts. After watching the replay, former England manager Glenn Hoddle accepted that Potts’ dismissal was the right call; sliding in aggressively and catching Burton’s Julian Larsson on the ankle.
“It was reckless from Freddie,” adds Cole, who reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with the Hammers back in 2001. “When he looks at it, he will probably [agree].
“It looks nastier than what it is. It’s clumsy. I think it sits between a yellow and a red. [But for Potts to be suspended] is disappointing, yeah.”
While Nuno will welcome back Jean-Clair Todibo against Bournemouth next weekend, he will now be without Potts for the upcoming three fixtures.
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