Slaven Bilic has said the depth of his West Ham squad will give him a headache when it comes to selecting his starting XI for tomorrow’s trip to the Hawthorns and in the coming weeks.
The Hammers travel to West Brom looking for back-to-back top flight victories following their win over Huddersfield Town on Monday, however with a number of players returning from injury and suspension, Bilic is spoilt for choice.
Speaking in his column in the Evening Standard, the Croatian said: “With Marko Arnautovic available again following suspension and Manuel Lanzini getting closer to fitness, I am going to have more options soon.
“The question of keeping everyone happy then is a difficult one but unless you are really overloaded, every player can feel that he is an important cog in the wheel.”
Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew were the goalscorers in the Hammers win on Monday night, however Bilic was met with boos from the fans after bringing on Ayew in place of fan favourite Javier Hernandez.
The decision proved a pivotal one, and Bilic has gone on to defend his decision.
“Managers have to be big enough to make decisions, such as substituting ‘Chicharito’ in the second half against Huddersfield.” said Bilic.
“I heard a few boos when I did that and I understood because he is a fans’ favourite and also a favourite of mine. The reason why I did it was this. We didn’t want to change the system but we were dropping energy so we needed a player to come on to give us a boost.”
