West Ham take on Freiburg in Germany in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 tie but he has a problem over Alphonse Areola.
West Ham have arguably the best number one and two goalkeeper picks in the Premier League.
Alongside probably Arsenal, the Hammers’ duo of Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski is by far the strongest.
But that comes with its own headaches.
Especially when the David Moyes has set his stall out to rotate the pair between league and cup matches.
Major dilemma for Moyes ahead of Europa League last 16 tie
Areola has been West Ham’s number one which sees him start in the Premier League.
And Fabianski has been the cup ‘keeper, starting in Europa League and the domestic cups.
But now West Ham are about to play the crucial knockouts and it gives the manager a major dilemma.
Moyes a faces big Areola problem ahead of the crucial West Ham last 16 clash with Freiburg.
The Hammers go into the first leg in Germany having Areola in the form of his life.
The 6ft 5in Frenchman put in one of the best ever Premier League performances for a goalkeeper in the win over Everton last time out.
Is Areola simply too good to be rotated?
Moyes then boldly stated his number one can get even better.
And he made crucial saves against Brentford to ensure West Ham saw out a comfortable victory.
Were it not for Areola the recent defeat at Forest would have been by a much more convincing scoreline too.
Now Moyes must decide whether to stick to his guns over the goalkeeper situation.
Or does the Scot select his strongest team for a crucial knockout game?
It’s a nice problem to have of course.
And Fabianski never lets the Hammers down.
Fabianski never lets West Ham down but there’s no second chances
But Areola is a difference maker for this West Ham team and in such a rich vein of form you could totally understand the manager if elected to stick with him and leave Fabianski on the bench.
There are no second chances at this stage. West Ham will hope to be in the game regardless for the second leg.
But the Hammers have shown they can ship goals when not at full strength over the last couple of months.
So it’s an extremely tough decision for Moyes.
Does he keep his big cat Areola in goal for these crunch European games? Or does he bring in a potentially slightly rusty Fabianski knowing there are no second chances like in the group stage?
It’s a big call and Moyes has consistently got those right when it matters over the last few years.
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