Edson Alvarez must be axed at HT after what he did for West Ham v Fulham

Julen Lopetegui must think about axing Edson Alvarez at half-time as West Ham trail 1-0 against Fulham.

The Irons have found themselves trailing at the break upon their return from the international break, thanks to a goal from Raul Jiminez.

It has been one-sided yet again after another slow start, with Lucas Paqueta ready to come on and change things around if needed in midfield.

Lucas Pauqeta could turn the game around for West Ham United

Although the Brazilian usually starts in the number 10 role for Lopetegui, the Spaniard chose to push Tomas Soucek further up the field and leave Paqueta out which came as quite a surprise to fans.

While the midfield is fairly stable, the attackers are getting hardly any service as none of the three midfielders has much attacking prowess.

Socuek has been known to score the odd goal here and there but more creativity needs to be brought onto the pitch if they want to turn things around.

Paqueta is one of the Hammers' best players which is shown by his 15-goal contributions last term.

West Ham newbie Carlos Soler would also be a valid option as the Spaniard could unlock defences alongside Paqueta, rather than looking to keep things solid.

Should the Hammers fail to gain any points once again, it would be a failure on all accounts, especially due to the number of new faces that have arrived at the London Stadium.

In other West Ham news, Nayef Aguerd has made a new London Stadium exit admission after his deadline-day transfer

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