West Ham United insider shares Edson Alvarez availability update ahead of Europa League tie v Freiburg
West Ham may be without Edson Alvarez against Freiburg due to the illness bug that forced the midfielder to miss the loss at Fulham, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable source shared an update on its website on Sunday (10 December) after Alvarez was one of two players to drop out of the Hammers’ starting line-up for the shocking 5-0 loss at Craven Cottage.
Emerson was also struggling through sickness but was forced on at half-time due to how badly Aaron Cresswell performed in the opening 45 minutes.
Alvarez is now in a race against time to be included in the squad for the final Europa League group tie against Freiburg on Thursday (14 December).
The report by Hugh Southon read: “The major defensive midfielder Alvarez had been sick despite turning out in the win against Spurs.
“But we understand he has relapsed and it remains to be seen whether he will appear in the critical Group A Europa League match against Freiburg on Thursday evening.
“Alvarez has been ill since returning from international duty which is always a problem at this time of the year when players are travelling for hours to different countries.”
Reshuffle
It is fair to say Alvarez’s presence was missed at Craven Cottage as West Ham suffered their heaviest Premier League away defeat since January 2011 against Newcastle United [BBC Sport].
With the Mexican dropping out of the side, Pablo Fornals was brought in on the left in a midfield reshuffle from the impressive 2-1 win at Tottenham three days earlier.
That meant James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek were left to shield the fragile back four, with Lucas Paqueta, Fornals and Mohammed Kudus offering support – or trying to – for Jarrod Bowen.
Coufal did not register a single tackle [WhoScored], which says an awful lot about his and West Ham’s overall performance in South London.
David Moyes will not want to rush Alvarez back if he is not 100 per cent ready, but the game against Freiburg is one West Ham will be seeking a point from to guarantee top spot in Group A.
However, most important of all is that this sickness bug does not spread if two members of the squad have been suffering in recent days. Losing more players at the busiest time of the season is the last thing Moyes wants.
In other West Ham news, pundit Tony Gale saw something he had never previously witnessed a player do in the Hammers’ loss at Fulham.