David Moyes has suggested which player will be dropped when recovering Kurt Zouma returns to the West Ham team.
It’s not a question I’d actively encourage but ask any West Ham fan who has been their worst player this season and it would be a straight fight between two names.
Had West Ham maintained their impressive start to the Premier League campaign, all the talk would be about who the team’s best player has been.
But with the run of results West Ham have been on in the league – three defeats on the bounce and one win in seven – those sort of questions are inevitable.
And the answer, for many, would be between Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio.
Changing of the rearguard?
Both players continued their poor form when they were widely blamed for the 3-2 defeat to Brentford last weekend.
Antonio was since dropped for the win over Olympiacos on Thursday.
But – due to Kurt Zouma’s injury and David Moyes’ seeming reluctance to drop Aguerd – the Moroccan has kept his place.
That could be about to change soon, though.
Moyes suggests who’ll be dropped when Zouma returns
West Ham welcome Nottingham Forest to the London Stadium for a crucial game.
Lose and the Hammers will drop into the bottom six and possibly even the bottom five. Conversely, a win could lift West Ham back into the top half and reignite hopes of a push for the European spots.
It feels like a bit of a crossroads for West Ham’s season against Forest. And it could be for Aguerd too if Zouma is back.
Because Moyes has suggested which player will be dropped when Zouma returns to the West Ham team.
The Scot is playing his cards close to his chest about whether Hammers captain Zouma will be back for Forest.
Bad news for Aguerd as boss raves about Dinos
And he has also been absolutely raving about new boy Konstantinos Mavropanos – who has also been impressing West Ham fans.
That can only be ominous for Aguerd as and when skipper Zouma does return to the fold.
“We needed more centre-backs, because we had a problem last year which gave us a real worry at the start the season when all our centre-backs were injured, and we probably slipped behind because we didn’t have any centre-backs,” Moyes has said on the club’s official site.
“With Kurt (Zouma) being injured, I’ve got to say Dinos has come in, steadied himself and done really well in the games, so we’ve been pleased with Dinos and he’s settled in really well.”
Perhaps too well for Aguerd’s liking as it now very much sounds like he will be the one to drop out when Zouma returns to the West Ham fold.
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