West Ham United head coach Graham Potter has been making some bizarre decisions recently.
Graham Potter took over at West Ham back in January, but the progress has been slower than expected since his arrival at the London Stadium.
The poor squad building from previous regimes is clearly holding Graham Potter back at West Ham.
However, the 49-year-old needs to take responsibility as well.
The Hammers haven’t been good enough since Potter took over.
And it must be said, some of his decision-making has been questionable to say the least.
What has West Ham man Emerson Palmieri done wrong in Graham Potter’s eyes
Emerson Palmieri has been on the bench more often than he has started for the Hammers since Potter’s arrival.
West Ham signed Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea for £13 million in the summer of 2022.
The 30-year-old has been a great signing for the Hammers on the whole, but his omission from the starting XI of late has been really strange to say the least.
The Italy international is a top performer when he’s on his best form.
And let’s all be completely honest now – he’s head and shoulders above Ollie Scarles.
Potter’s need to please the Hammers fans has led to one of our better players over the past couple of years losing his place in the team.
Forcing Ollie Scarles into the first-team is bad for his development
Scarles is a very good young player. However, if we’re all being honest, there are serious question marks regarding whether or not he’s actually good enough to be playing Premier League football right now.
He was ripped apart time and time again by Mohamed Salah at Anfield on Sunday.
Of course the Egyptian has done that to many a Premier League defender.
However, Scarles hasn’t been on top form for a while now. He’s neat and tidy, but is he a needle-mover?
The answer to that question is probably no. He passes backwards and sideways far too often, and seems to be scared to lose the ball.
That’s a direct result of being forced into the first-team far too soon in my opinion.
Graham Potter has clearly done that to get the West Ham fans onside quickly.
However, in doing so, he has completely jettisoned Emerson Palmieri from the side, very much to the detriment of the Hammers.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
