Opinion from the stands

Why Sam Byram deserves his chance after Jenkinson’s injury

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Carl Jenkinson has not played well when appearing for West Ham this season. Many fans looked forward to the Arsenal player returning for another loan spell this season however he has not hit the heights he did last season. Jenkinson was positive when going forward with the ball last season and some of his crosses were magnificent, however with some poor performances this season, the right back has been pushed out of the team.

West Ham announced earlier on this week that Carl Jenkinson had suffered a serious knee injury which could see him side-lined for the remainder of the season. As much as I don’t want to see West Ham players get injured, I feel with Jenkinson out, Byram will become a permanent fixture in the West Ham team. Unfortunately Jenkinson has not been good enough, and was in recent matches noticeably lacking confidence. Sam Byram looked very impressive when coming off the bench to replace Jenkinson against Man City, which is arguably one of the most difficult games you could come into as a right back, as he was making his debut against title contenders. Byram looked confident on the ball, level headed and enthusiastic going forward. Understandably it will take Byram a while to fully settle into the premier league, however in the 80 odd minutes we saw him play, he possessed everything that Jenkinson hasn’t had this season.

West Ham’s squad at this moment in time is very strong and is only going to get stronger. Even if Byram does not impress in upcoming games, we can be reassured that Tomkins can come into that right back position and perform competently. If Byram continues to play as he did against Manchester City, I see no reason as to why the 22 year old can’t go on to become West Ham’s permanent right back for many years to come. The former Leeds player is ambitious which is good because he has joined a club who are on the rise. Furthermore, Byram’s dedication impresses me because he had been linked with various clubs previously, most notably Everton but he still continued to play consistently well for Leeds.

With regards to Jenkinson, assuming he is injured for the rest of the season, I feel he will not return for the club’s first season at the Olympic stadium which is unfortunate given his encouraging first spell on loan at the club, however the club is getting bigger, and cannot continue to select players who underperform. I hope that Byram’s first 6 months at West Ham are excellent and that he can replicate that good form going into the new era for the club.

In summary, it looks as if Carl Jenkinson’s time at West Ham might be drawing to a close but with a younger and more exciting player coming in to the team who is very versatile. As Hammer’s fans we have everything to look forward to and maybe Jenkinson won’t be coming on the new adventure, however the club have acquired a younger player who has undisputable potential.

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