West Ham suffered a humbling defeat in the League Cup, falling 5-1 to Premier League title contenders Liverpool in a match that underscored the vast gulf in class between the top teams and the Hammers.
After a summer of major transfer investment, West Ham would have liked to see a better return in the early going under new manager Julen Lopetegui, who has been backed to the gills financially in comparison to some of his predecessors.
Lopetegui comes to West Ham with a mixed track record, having disappointed for Wolves and Real Madrid while shining in between those posts as Sevilla’s manager.
West Ham aren’t going to fire Lopetegui any time soon, but with the club sitting 14th in the Premier League table, the Hammers are going to begin to put a little more pressure on the Spanish coach to get results with this talented squad.
Here is a look at the best possible starting XI Lopetegui needs to use to ensure West Ham maximize their chances of victory.
Defense: GK Alphonse Areola, LB Emerson Palmieri, CB Max Kilman, CB Jean-Clair Todibo, RB Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Having watched Konstantinos Mavropanos over the years, I refuse to believe he is some schlub who can’t play defense, but I do think that his overly aggressive nature suits the Bundesliga much better than it does the Premier League.
Therefore, if the comparison is between Jean-Clair Todibo and Mavropanos, I would take Todibo between the two, because, in Ligue 1, he showed that he can be a disciplined, intelligent defender who is great on the ball and doesn’t take miscalculated gambles out of defense.
Todibo got a start in the League Cup against Liverpool and admittedly flopped, but one bad game against an elite attack in a cup fixture shouldn’t doom Todibo to the third center back role.
All three center backs will be needed to help West Ham succeed, but, clearly, Max Kilman is going to be the most important of the trio and is already emerging as a key leader for the Hammers.
As for the other three starting positions, they couldn’t get more obvious. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a smash hit of a transfer and one of the best right backs in the Premier League, Alphonse Areola looks like Alisson Becker in comparison to Lukasz Fabianski’s hapless flailing, and Emerson Palmieri is one of the most underrated fullbacks in Europe.
Midfield: DM Guido Rodriguez, AM Lucas Paqueta, AM Carlos Soler
Tomas Soucek is still a serviceable player, but at this stage of his career, he offers so little going forward with his passing that you cannot justify starting him in the modern game unless you are a team with no attacking firepower whose goal is to sit back in low blocks and avoid relegation.
West Ham have graduated beyond that line of thinking. They have so much attacking talent that they need to just go for it and play with two attacking midfielders, especially since those two attacking midfielders, Carlos Soler and Lucas Paqueta, are willing and capable ball-winners.
Paqueta is as scrappy as they come in the playmaker role. West Ham don’t need to mess around with sub-standard, ill-disciplined players like Edson Alvarez in their starting lineup who are just as likely to throw the game away with a useless challenge than they are to change it with even a semi-progressive pass.
The West Ham midfield should be designed as a bridge to the attack, with Guido Rodriguez, who is clearly more talented and more proven than their other defensive midfield options, serving as the lone anchor.
Honestly, the Hammers should have been smarter about building their defensive midfield or hired a more innovative attacking coach than Lopetegui, but this is the best they have and they might as well force Lopetegui to tailor his ideas to his best players; these are clearly his three best midfield players in terms of ability.
Attack: LW Crysencio Summerville, RW Jarrod Bowen, ST Mohammed Kudus
Again, I am a believer in getting your most talented players on the pitch and watching them go to work. West Ham absolutely have to get these three players in the starting lineup, because they are miles above the other options in terms of upside.
I mean, you’d have to be the most deluded “nostalgia merchant” to put Michail Antonio anywhere near Mohammed Kudus’ bracket, and anyone who has watched Kudus or Niclas Fullkrug technically will understand that Kudus has a lot more to offer West Ham, especially long-term.
West Ham honestly made a mistake spending 27 million pounds on a 31-year-old Fullkrug just because he looks like a lumberjack and people on social media who don’t even know what the word “Woke” means thinks it’s funny. There’s a reason why Champions League Finalists Dortmund signed two strikers and sold Fullkrug.
That’s something Lopetegui and West Ham need to make clear to themselves. You don’t have to play someone just because you signed them. At the same time, Crysencio Summerville is a different case, because he is showing real promise when on the pitch and has long-term value to West Ham.
Furthermore, he’s the best option on the left wing. Kudus is better in the middle of the pitch, same with Soler and Paqueta. Summerville is the most explosive and dynamic attacking weapon on the West Ham wings, and Lopetegui absolutely has to take advantage of that.
Finally, I don’t really need to go into much detail about Jarrod Bowen. If we are purely talking about production over the last two Premier League seasons, Bowen is West Ham’s best overall player. He always has a spot in the XI, especially on that right wing.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.