West Ham United’s Champions League dreams are hanging by a thread following Leicester’s win over Manchester United’s reserves last night.
Antonio explains why ‘unbelievable’ teammate gets his vote for player of the season
The Hammers needed Man United to beat the Foxes to breathe new life into their Champions League chances.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a mockery of the Premier League by naming 10 changes as Leicester won 2-1.
Man United’s lack of class did not help but truth is West Ham’s Champions League dream was derailed by injuries
In truth, though, West Ham’s Champions League bid started to falter as a result of a glut of injuries to key players at the worst possible time.
Michail Antonio has been in and out of the side all season. But his latest spell out was the most damaging as it coincided with the absence of Angelo Ogbonna and Declan Rice.
Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku have also had several spells out of the West Ham side through injury.
But it seems the final straw for David Moyes came when Manuel Lanzini was ruled out for the last three games of the season at the weekend.
Lanzini looked to have provided a solution as Rice and Soucek back-up
After spending the season as a bit-part player, Lanzini was hugely impressive in a deeper lying midfield role as he helped West Ham beat Burnley last week.
Moyes and West Ham fans were hugely impressed. And many believed West Ham had finally found a place for Lanzini going forward – as back-up to Rice and Tomas Soucek.
But halfway through the game against Everton, the Argentine pulled up with yet another injury.
After the game Moyes could not hide is disappointment when speaking to West Ham TV.
And the Scot has vowed to bring ‘more robust’ players to the club this summer.
Argentine’s latest injury the final straw for frustrated Moyes as Hammers boss makes transfer pledge
“It looked like Manu was controlling the game and we were controlling the game and Manu was very good at the time he got injured,” Moyes told West Ham TV.
“But this is what happens, you bring people in and you get them in for games and they break down very quickly.
“So we have got to try and get players who are robust and for most of the season we’ve had robust players.”
Moyes’s comments will also cast doubt over the future of players like Lanzini and other injury-prone Hammers.
The West Ham boss is clearly sick of seeing players dropping like flies when he needs them most.
The problem is will he have the funds to bring in the robust players he needs come the summer.
Over to you David Sullivan and David Gold.
New and improved Europa League still a massive achievement for West Ham
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
