Flynn Downes deserves to start ahead of Tomas Soucek for West Ham United v Fulham
West Ham United’s season has finally been kickstarted with back-to-back wins in the domestic league and European competitions.
Their most recent victory came in the match against RSC Anderlecht in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, 06 October.
Even though the only goal of the match came from striker Gianluca Scamacca, the star of the show for the Hammers was midfielder Flynn Downes.
Time for league start
West Ham made eight first-team signings in the summer transfer window and one of them was Downes. The 23-year-old arrived at London Stadium in a deal worth £12 million [BBC].
However, his arrival was not met with the same kind of hype or excitement as was the case when the Hammers signed other players.
That was largely down to the fact that Downes was arriving from Championship outfit Swansea City and therefore, there was always going to be scepticism about whether the player coming from a lower division will be able to deliver at the highest level.
However, the former England under-20 international has been extremely impressive for the Irons in whatever first-team minutes he has been given by the manager.
Downes was extremely influential for West Ham in the win on Thursday where he controlled the pace of play, that too in the absence of players like Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.
That performance was a timely reminder from the youngster to David Moyes who has been struggling to get his midfield right this season where Soucek has struggled for the most part.
Therefore, it is about time the former Manchester United manager must give Downes an opportunity to start his first game in the Premier League this weekend against a struggling side like Fulham and play with Rice to form a formidable partnership.