West Ham United: David Moyes will like what he saw from Edson Alvarez, Maxwel Cornet and Vladimir Coufal
David Moyes was pictured enjoying a trip to Northern Ireland this weekend, but the West Ham manager no doubt had an eye on how his players were getting on during the international break.
United saw 10 players called up by their respective nations for the September window, many of whom have already been in action.
And if Moyes did indeed factor in an early-morning alarm during his short break to catch Mexico’s 2-2 draw with Australia in the early hours of Sunday [10 September] (why wouldn’t he?), the Scotsman would have liked what he saw.
Edson Alvarez, who has been a regular in holding midfield for the Hammers since arriving from West Ham, played the full 90 minutes at centre-back.
That is a position Alvarez has played in previously, so it is not entirely out of the blue, but it is encouraging nonetheless to know the Mexican can slot into that position should an injury crisis hit at the London Stadium.
Indeed, Spanish outlet AS reported [10 September] that Alvarez “has looked good in his less familiar role in the heart of defence”.
Alvarez was not the only West Ham player to show his versatility while away on international duty, as Vladimir Coufal was used in a more advanced position of right wing-back for Czech Republic in their 1-1 Euro 2024 qualifying draw with Albania on Thursday [7 September].
Maxwel Cornet, meanwhile, was not used as a pure winger in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Lesotho on Saturday [9 September], but instead as a left wing-back.
For all the talk of West Ham needing more cover in defence during the summer, even accounting for the arrival of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Moyes already has options who can seemingly do a job there, while it also opens the door to switch to a back five if needed.
As focus slowly turns towards the visit of Manchester City next Saturday [16 September], Moyes would be wise to have half an eye on the remaining international fixtures involving his players over the coming days.
In other West Ham news, Alvarez was involved in a heated incident against Australia.