Premier League matchdays must come as a bit of a relief for Konstantinos Mavropanos these days. Because, when the whistle blows, it no longer falls upon him to stop Crysencio Summerville in full flow.
Summerville looked somewhat closer to his pre-injury peak during the 2-1 victory over Everton which kept the Hammers’ survival hopes in their own hands last weekend.
Captain Jarrod Bowen is back to his ‘brilliant best’, too, while Adama Traore has shown in flashes that he is capable of bringing something extra in reserve.
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West Ham United are hitting their stride at both ends of the table, with salvation tantalisingly within reach.
And Konstantinos Mavropanos, arguably the most in-form member of Nuno Espirito Santo’s in-form squad, is just glad he doesn’t have to go up against Summerville, Bowen and Traore on the weekends as well as weekdays.
Dinos Mavropanos lifts the lid on West Ham United teammate Crysencio Summerville
When asked on the latest edition of the Ironcast podcast how it feels to go eyeball-to-eyeball with the scheming, swivelling Summerville at Rush Green, Mavropanos puffed out his cheeks and offered a telling response.
“It’s so hard to defend, actually. I don’t know how he can do [what he does],” Mavropanos says.
“I mean, he’s really good with the ball technically. He can dribble so easily and pass players, his abilities are unreal.
“He’s really good on the ball.”
“But that is probably what sharpens you up in training,” mused Carlton Cole, the striker who scored 68 goals in nearly ten years at Upton Park. “When you’ve got a player like [Summerville], with quick feet, [you] get better defending against it.
“It’s really good when you have those kinds of players [to train with].”
Where will West Ham v Brentford be WON and LOST?
Some key battles all over the pitch… ⚒️ 🆚 🐝
Jarrod Bowen and Adama Traore sharpen Mavropanos’ instincts
Mavropanos could not agree more emphatically with Cole’s point.
“Yeah, I totally agree, especially when you have to play against Jaz [Bowen], Cry, Adama… [Traore] looks strong, but he is strong as well. It’s unbelievable, seriously.
“He’s really good on the ball as well and he moves really fast. He’s been really good.”
West Ham travel to Brentford on Saturday for what is a second successive 3pm kick-off.
A victory at the Gtech Community Stadium, coupled with a Tottenham loss away to Aston Villa a day later, would put the Hammers five points clear of the relegation zone with only three matchdays remaining.
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