‘Don’t see him involved at all’ – Moyes rules out return for rarely seen West Ham ace v Everton
West Ham youngster Ben Johnson will not be involved in this weekend’s Premier League clash with Everton, according to manager David Moyes.
The full-back has endured a season hampered by injury after making his Premier League against Manchester City last term, but his boss has admitted that it is still too soon to throw him back into top flight action.
That hesitation comes despite the Hammers currently facing something of a shortage of bodies in the full-back positions.
Ryan Fredericks remains out, Arthur Masuaku has had to have fluid drained off his knee this week, and Moyes tends to deploy Aaron Cresswell as the left-sided centre-half in a back three.
That leaves the Scot with just Pablo Zabaleta as a recognised option at full-back.
But nonetheless, Moyes was definite in his appraisal of Johnson’s situation.
As quoted by Football.London, he said: “Ben Johnson hasn’t been training for a few months so at the moment I don’t see him involved at all.”
What does this mean for West Ham?
To be frank, it means that they have a problem on their hands.
Fredericks is definitely out of the clash against Everton, while Masuaku is highly doubtful, as per Football.London.
That could force Moyes’ hand into pushing Cresswell back out to wing-back, with Zabaleta on the other side, but that would be a shame given how well the 30-year-old has adapted to his new role.
Beyond those options, and with Johnson also ruled out now, it’s hard to see who could step up to the plate for the Hammers.
Whoever is given the nod is going to be forced into playing a relatively alien role, and with Everton looking improved under Carlo Ancelotti, that could be bad news for the Hammers.
In other news, ‘Exactly what we need’ – These West Ham fans urge club to swoop for reported PL target.