Even without the suspended Lucas Paqueta, Andoni Iraola knows that West Ham United still have enough ammunition in their armoury to rain shells down on AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Paqueta will not travel to the South Coast after picking up his fifth booking of the Premier League season in that 3-2 victory over Burnley.
But while Nuno Espirito Santo calls Paqueta ‘irreplaceable’ in this West Ham United squad – though Mateus Fernandes or Tomas Soucek may have something to say about that if pushed into the Brazilian’s number ten role – Andoni Iraola is not taking the threat of Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson lightly.
The Hammers may have lost their Brazilian broadsword, but they still have a Bowen-shaped dagger in their pocket and a not-so-secret weapon up their sleeve in the 33-year-old poacher.
Andoni Iraola wary of West ham United duo Callum Wilson and Jarrod Bowen
Wilson scored 64 times for Bournemouth between 2014 and 2020. A modern-day Cherries icon, the former England international fired his old employers into the Premier League for the very first time a decade ago.
Bowen, meanwhile, has three goals and one assist against Bournemouth in their last five meetings in league and cup. One glorious curling effort back in 2023, in particular, sticks in the mind.
“I think definitely we prefer that [Paqueta] doesn’t play! He’s a very, very good player for them, also a strong personality,” Iraola said during his press conference on Friday. “They have very good players.
“Bowen always plays very well against us. I hope he doesn’t have his best day. But it’s true that Paqueta, I think, is a player that has been kind of leading a little bit the past seasons, and I think it’s good for us [that he is unavailable].
“They have other very good players, but it’s good that he doesn’t play for us.”
Revitalised Wilson makes his return to the Vitality Stadium
Nuno hopes to see Callum Wilson kick on, meanwhile, after his crucial equaliser in that comeback victory over Burnley. The evergreen hitman is expected to start up top once again with Niclas Fullkrug a doubt.
“I think he’s in a good moment,” Iraola says of Wilson. “He has started most of the games recently, scored the other day. He’s a striker that obviously everyone knows well here at the club.
“He’s a goalscorer. He smells the danger, has very good movements, and we will have to be careful with him. I think like all the teams in the Premier League, they have always three, four very, very good players up front.
“And I think defensively we have to be very, very, very solid because it gives us more chances to get the points.”
Nuno Espirito Santo opens up on Lucas Paqueta dilemma
A Paqueta-less West Ham are not the only side going into matchday twelve one star attacker down.
Bournemouth talisman Antoine Semenyo is a doubt. Iraola has also confirmed that both Justin Kluivert and Ben Gannon-Doak will be absent. The former picked up a potential long-term injury after assisting Scott McTominay’s overhead kick during Scotland’s Hollywood World Cup qualifying victory over Denmark this week.
“[Paqueta is] irreplaceable, I would say. It is impossible to replace a player like Lucas,” Nuno said during his own press conference on Thursday lunchtime.
“We have to be aware of what he means for us, what he gives us, his talent. A fantastic player. Irreplaceable.
“[But] we have to find solutions. [There is] still the session tomorrow. We have Mateus coming back [from Portugal Under-21 duty] so tomorrow we will look at the boys and decide who is travelling and who is playing.”
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