Disastrous West Ham season hits catastrophic new low as ‘devastating’ news emerges. West Ham United’s awful 2024/25 season continues to descend into chaos. What an utterly forgetful campaign it has been for West Ham so far!
At least with Graham Potter having arrived at the London Stadium we now have genuine hope of a bright new future. Potter has had to deal with horrendous injury problems since taking over from Julen Lopetegui.
However, he did receive somewhat of a boost yesterday after news emerged that Niclas Fullkrug could be set to return to action earlier than first thought. The mess left behind by Lopetegui will take a long, long time to clean up.
The hapless Spaniard did a terrible job in charge of the Hammers. His player recruitment was horrific, and he totally destroyed the confidence of some of our best players. It’s little wonder why Potter is finding it so hard to make headway during his early days in charge of West Ham. And now, it seems like the Hammers head coach has an ever harder job on his hands.
That’s because some really bad news has come to light for West Ham. Lucas Paqueta injured during West Ham training Hammers midfielder Lucas Paqueta seems to have rediscovered some of his best form recently.
The resurgent Brazilian seems to have found his mojo again under Potter, although it has been claimed that he could be sold to Flamengo for just £20 million.
I’m not sure about the veracity of those claims. West Ham really need Paqueta right now. Unfortunately though, the Hammers will now have to make do without the 27-year-old, for quite some time it seems.
The Evening Standard claim that Paqueta pulled up injured in training on Tuesday. He allegedly suffered an ankle problem, and was ‘devastated’ as he left the Hammers’ Rush Green training ground
That doesn’t sound good at all does it.
Now Potter has a really tricky job on his hands to replace the Brazilian.
Three ways West Ham can internally replace Lucas Paqueta
Will Potter think outside the box or opt for a tried and tested method?
There are numerous options for him to explore at least. Carlos Soler is the obvious replacement for Paqueta. This may well be the Spaniard’s chance to prove to everyone that he should be signed permanently by West Ham in the summer.
Another option for Potter would be to use Tomas Soucek in a more advanced role. He obviously doesn’t possess the technical ability that Paqueta does, but he would offer us a different threat with his well-timed runs into the box.
Finally, the Hammers head coach could opt to use Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus as so-called No.10’s.
The Ghanaian and the Englishman would then operate just behind Evan Ferguson, with the Irishman serving as the focal point to our attacking play.
I believe that’s the option Potter will decide to go with. He can then deploy Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez as his central midfield pairing – the two players who offer us the most balance in the middle of the park.
Losing Lucas Paqueta to an ankle injury is really bad news for West Ham. Let’s hope that when the scans come back it’s good news, and he isn’t out of the team for too long.
