West Ham United: ‘Huge’ problem emerges at London Stadium after latest injury news
Frank McAvennie insists the strength in depth at West Ham is causing problems for David Moyes given the difference in quality between the first-team stars and their replacements.
When discussing the drop in performances when the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus have missed out through injury, the former Hammers man offered his explanation.
This comes after David Moyes explained [via The Sun journalist Jack Rosser on X] that, despite Bowen having returned to training, he still may not be fit to face Bayer Leverkusen on 18 April.
McAvennie – speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone – shared his view that the depth players at the club are simply not good enough, with the gap in talent too wide
“They’ve got enough squad players, the problem is they’ve not got good enough squad players. The players coming on are not as good as the ones going off,” McAvennie shared.
“It’s not just a little gap, it’s a big gap, that’s a problem. There’s a huge gap and I think it’s too wide a gap to bring them in and hope that they’re going to go and do as well as the rest of them.“
West Ham stars not good enough as Jarrod Bowen injury news emerges
It was clear to see in the first leg that West Ham missed Bowen. Michail Antonio was credited for his good work playing as the lone striker, but without anybody backing him up, the Hammers mustered just one shot all game.
David Moyes’ decision to revert to a back five with Aaron Cresswell replacing Bowen in a bid to sure up the defensive line didn’t help as he was widely criticised for reverting to such a negative selection as the Hammers lost 2-0.
Ultimately, the replacements for Bowen, Paqueta and Kudus are not good enough to bring the same talent and level of performance as the three stars of Moyes’ team. This means performances dip when even one of them is unavailable.
So while the squad may be bloated as McAvennie suggested, with more than enough depth there already, these players will have to be upgraded in the summer transfer window if the club wants to continue to progress.
In other West Ham news, Moyes shared a new update on Bowen’s fitness.
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