Crysencio Summerville situation at West Ham United baffles as frustration claim made
Josh Lobley has been left baffled by Julen Lopetegui’s decision to consistently exclude Crysencio Summerville from his West Ham United starting XI after their recent final form in the final third.
The attacker was one of the Spaniard’s marquee signings in the summer, with a lot of Hammers fans being mostly excited about the Dutchman’s arrival from Leeds United.
However, Mohammed Kudus’ suspension is the only reason he’s been afforded the chance to start by Lopetegui, which has left many fans questioning their manager’s decision-making, especially with the poor form of the Ghana international this term.
Writing for the BBC Sport website (14 November), journalist Lobley shared his thoughts on Summerville’s current situation.
“The lack of minutes for Crysencio Summerville is a genuine frustration,” he wrote.
“Last season’s Championship player of the season at Leeds has only played more than 45 minutes in two Premier League matches, and would surely add some firepower to a West Ham attack that has outscored just four teams in the Premier League.”
Crysencio Summerville showed why he deserves a West Ham starting spot v Everton
The game between West Ham and the Toffees may have ended in a 0-0 stalemate, but that doesn’t mean that neither team went for the win.
In fact, if Jordan Pickford hadn’t pulled off a world-class save in the dying embers of the clash, the Hammers would’ve finished the game with all three points to their name.
One of West Ham’s stand-out players on the day, however, was Summerville. He played 83 minutes of the game and in that time, he managed 41 touches of the ball and maintained a pass accuracy of 74 per cent (Sofascore).
His xG of 0.28 may make some fans think he had a poor time in the final third, but one of those did at least force Pickford into action and he was lively throughout.
Two of the 17 successfully completed passes were deemed to be ‘key’ which shows the impact he had on the Hammers’ attacks.
His crossing of the ball did leave a lot to be desired, with only 25 per cent being accurate, but his defensive work helped make up for that somewhat with the Dutchman winning 50 per cent of his ground duels.
Kudus is set to return to first-team action soon but if Lopetegui drops Summerville from his starting XI after his performance against Sean Dyche’s men, it’s hard to see how the few West Ham fans that may still be backing Lopetegui will be able to do so for much longer.
In other West Ham news, Ruud van Nistelrooy has been backed to go for the Hammers’ managerial hot seat if Julen Lopetegui is sacked.
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