West Ham United face Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-final over two legs next month.
Bayer Leverkusen was one club the West Ham fans definitely didn’t want us to pull out of the hat in the Europa League quarter-final draw yesterday.
Hammers boss David Moyes would have wanted to avoid Leverkusen, and Xabi Alonso suggested the same about us when speaking to reporters yesterday.
However, it is worth remembering that Azerbaijani side Qarabag pushed the German league leaders all the way in the round of 16!
And I have to say, we seem to be a team who are far more suited to playing in Europe than the Premier League. Moyes has guided us to real success on the continent over the past three years.
Whilst we definitely should respect Bayer Leverkusen, we absolutely shouldn’t be fearing them. They are a great football team for sure, but the fact we’re playing at home in the second-leg gives us a big chance to qualify through to the semi-finals in my opinion.
One thing’s for sure, the London Stadium will be absolutely bouncing when we welcome the Germans to East London. Staying in the tie during the first-leg will obviously be crucial.
However, there is some very bad news indeed for West Ham ahead of the huge clash with the German outfit…
West Ham dealt blow ahead of Bayer Leverkusen quarter-final
When Edson Alvarez received a yellow card for a really silly and needless late challenge during our 5-0 win over Freiburg on Thursday night, Moyes’s reaction on the touchline summed it all up for me.
The Hammers boss walked back to the dugout with his head in his hands, clearly fully aware that he’d be unable to call upon the 26-year-old for the first-leg of the next round of the competition.
The former Ajax man has been incredible for the Hammers this season. He has passed the eye test with flying colours, but his mightily impressive stats have backed up his brilliance as well.
However, we’ll have to make do without him out in Germany next month for our crunch clash with Leverkusen.
The Mexico international will now miss the first-leg against Leverkusen through suspension. What a big blow that is for us.
The score was 3-0 to the Hammers at the time, and 3-1 on aggregate, so we were very comfortable in the tie. And what made the yellow card even more frustrating was the fact that the Freiburg player wasn’t even in a dangerous position where he could score a goal or create one from.
In 24 Premier League appearances this season, Alvarez has averaged 2.6 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 2.5 clearances per game. During those outings, the 26-year-old has made 40.1 passes per game on average and has recorded a completion rate of 86% (Who Scored).
The Mexican’s tenacious tackling and aggressive approach to the game is obviously vital to us. It has been well documented how the physical side of his game makes him to important to the Hammers.
However, what goes under the radar is his composure when in possession of the football. Along with that, his ability to pass out from the back is truly sensational.
Let’s be honest here, we are a completely different team without Alvarez. It’s a huge concern that he’ll be missing for the first-leg of the Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham Europa League quarter-final.
Despite the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta all getting the headlines, there is a real argument to be made that Alvarez is the most important player to our system.
He’s one of those players who you really notice just how good he is when he isn’t playing. Unfortunately for us, we’ll have to do without him for our biggest game of the season yet.
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