West Ham have had a hectic start to the season, but they are now a week into an almost three-week international break.
An international break doesn’t mean a break for everyone, however, for obvious reasons. Some of our players are representing their countries in the Nations League or other tournaments.
Mads Hermansen, Dinos Mavropanos, and Manor Solomon have been called up to represent their countries’ first teams. Edvin Austbo, Josh Briggs, Finley Hooper, Airidas Golambeckis, Ezra Mayers, and Divine Mukasa have been called up to represent their Nations at youth level.
Finlay Herrick was also called up for England U20s; however, he picked up an injury and withdrew from the squad. This leaves the Hammers without a fit goalkeeper for training over the international break.
This is a brilliant chance for promising U21 keeper Lanre Awesu to show Nuno what he can do.
Not only is it a good chance for the youngsters to prove their worth to the manager, but it could also be a chance for the fringe first-team players to do the same. Magassa and Alvarez especially.
I think the story of Maxwel Cornet and West Ham United is over; I can’t see him playing for us again. No one is even sure if he’s even still training with the first team,
However, there is still hope for the other outcasts; Magassa especially. The Frenchman has returned to the squad for the last couple of matches but hasn’t got on the pitch, even when the game state has suited him on at least one occasion.
Magassa is very likely to make a proper return to the first team; he has reportedly apologised for trying to force a move, and it seems like Nuno is easing him in.
However, that really isn’t the case for Alvarez. The whole story with the Mexican since the start of the summer has been confusing.
We haven’t seen him since the first game of the season against Portsmouth; he reportedly refused to play vs Burnley, and he’s even been at the end of kidnapping accusations over the last couple of weeks. It’s just a mess.
Alvarez is a very talented player, more than good enough for the Championship; he just needs to get his head and his attitude right. Despite being captain, he hasn’t even been called up for the national team because of his lack of game time at West Ham, combined with his bad performances in the World Cup.
Mexico’s fans are no longer the biggest fans of the midfielder after his performance vs England. West Ham fans aren’t fans of his either for obvious reasons; he’s just having a nightmare right now.
The players are all on holiday at the moment, but I would assume they will all be back to training on Monday. That’s a good twelve days before our next game vs QPR; it’s a brilliant opportunity for Alvarez, especially, to try to build bridges with the club and Nuno and work his way back into contention for the squad.
