OPINION
Manuel Pellegrini is set to have a selection headache over who to play at left-back as it will clearly be a problem position for West Ham given their options.
While the Hammers’ defence across the board hasn’t covered itself in glory at least when it comes to choosing centre-backs or a right-back to play he has a range of options.
For example Ryan Fredericks and Pablo Zabaleta are both credible right-backs but offer different things to each other with Fredericks being a more attacking option to deploy.
Yet this isn’t the case when it comes to the manager’s options at left-back.
Pellegrini during his latest press conference provided an update on both Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku ahead of the Hammers’ game against Wolves.
“I needed to analyse all of the players, I spoke to them ahead of the game at Wimbledon,” said the veteran manager, as quoted by Football.London.
“Cresswell and Arthur are both doing well, it’s important for the squad. ”
These players are clearly competing to be the club’s first choice left-back with Masuaku have started all three league games for his side in that position and Cresswell only making his first start of the season against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup.
However both are similar types of players as the duo both excel when in advance positions for their side rather than when they have defensive duties to contend with.
Cresswell in his one outing and Masuaku across his three have already shown smalls glimpses of their attacking potential but neither has stood-out as being a reliable presence at the back.
The two players showcased similar issues last season but it wasn’t so much of an issue as when one was fit the other appeared to be stuck on the sidelines through injury.
Although no matter which of them featured at left-back, it was clear that it was a problem position for the Hammers as opponents regularly pinpointed it as the weak point and channelled their attacks down the left rather than the right-flank.
Given that Pellegrini is trying to tighten up his backline after his side have already conceded nine goals in three leagues games than he’s going to have headache over his left-back position as neither Cresswell or Masuaku will make their side more defensively sound.
