OPINION
West Ham could hardly have suffered a more humbling start to the 2018/19 Premier League season, with their 4-0 defeat to Liverpool bringing the club crashing back down to earth after an exciting summer.
The scoreline was not even flattering to the Reds, who comprehensively outplayed Manuel Pellegrini’s side in every single area of the pitch.
While the Hammers were not expected to win this game there are basic expectations of competitiveness which were not met, and the match looked like men against boys at times.
The main area identified as being below par against the Reds was the Irons midfield, with the trio of Mark Noble, Jack Wilshere and Declan Rice failing to contain a rampant Liverpool unit.
There was an alarming lack of pace in the middle of the park for Pellegrini, and he is expected to make changes for their next match against Bournemouth this weekend.
However, if an insider’s claim is correct, then the Chilean may be about to make one switch that would be totally wrong this weekend.
As reported by Claret and Hugh, a reliable Hammers insider website, Pellegrini is set to axe fan favourite Declan Rice and install new recruit Carlos Sanchez into midfield alongside Noble and Wilshere.
While there is no doubt that one of the trio needs to go, Rice should not be the one to make way.
Noble, despite the fact that he is club captain, must instead be the one axed from the starting XI, with his atrocious performance against Liverpool illustrating his shortcomings all too well.
The veteran midfielder looked uncomfortable in every aspect of his play against the Reds, failing to make any telling contributions in defence or attack.
Furthermore, his fitness looked to be below par, with Noble struggling to keep pace with the match from the end of the first-half.
Rice admittedly made mistakes as well, as did Wilshere, but Noble unfortunately needs to be the one to make way for Sanchez, who does have that extra bit of pace in midfield.
Rice is the future for West Ham, whereas Noble is the past, and the young Republic of Ireland international must be given the best chance possible to develop himself in midfield.
Axing him now would be a damaging error that may have adverse consequences in the future, and Pellegrini must realise that before it is too late.
