Roshane Thomas slams ‘underwhelming’ Gianluca Scamacca in West Ham United defeat v Manchester United
Roshane Thomas believes West Ham were feeling the effects of not having Lucas Paqueta in the squad during their 1-0 loss against Manchester United.
West Ham enjoyed a handful of chances at Old Trafford, but the Hammers hugely struggled when it came to keeping the ball and creating chances.
As a result, Gianluca Scamacca was starved of service and was fairly anonymous against the Red Devils. Thomas, who covers West Ham for The Athletic, believes David Moyes’ side are missing Paqueta’s creativity.
Via Twitter, Thomas posted: “West Ham miss Paqueta. He provided creativity and service to Scamacca.
“He’s been underwhelming in the last three games and it’s mainly due to Paqueta’s absence.”
Creativity on the bench
When it comes to creativity, there’s no doubt that Paqueta is the best among the West Ham squad.
But Moyes also has the likes of Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini in his squad – both of which are very capable of creating chances and linking up passes in midfield.
So it was a bizarre decision by the Scotsman to name both on the bench, with Flynn Downes instead playing in the advanced midfield role.
While Paqueta is sadly sidelined, Moyes needs to fill the void with a player that fits a similar profile. Downes is a much better fit further back in a defensive position.
There’s no need to play Scamacca so isolated up front when there are suitable players to fill the position on the bench. Hopefully Paqueta is back soon, but if not Moyes needs to make sure either Fornals or Lanzini fills his boots in future matches.