OPINION
West Ham were handed a lesson against Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp side cruised to a 4-0 victory but Manuel Pellegrini needs to only make three changes to his side that played the Reds in order to overcome Bournemouth.
The Hammers are set to face Bournemouth at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon and it’s clear Michail Antonio should be one of the players axed who featured against the Reds.
While several players under-performed the right-sided winger, who earns £70,000-a-week at the Hammers [Spotrac] , should be made to pay the price for his woeful display as there’s an excellent replacement waiting in the wings.
Antonio failed to help out right-back Ryan Fredericks against Liverpool but if summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko took his place in the team then he will no doubt be a better attacking threat as well as help cover Fredericks who got caught out several times by the Reds.
The 28-year-old Ukrainian in his displays alongside Fredericks in pre-season seem to establish an understanding with the defender and his introduction would make the Hammers strong down the right.
Pellegrini also needs to make another change in his midfield and replace the experienced Mark Noble with Pablo Zabaleta.
The Hammers captain was at all odds and ends against the Reds and after looking good at times in midfield last season as well as being one of the club’s standout performers, it’s worth seeing if Zabaleta works better alongside Jack Wilshere then Noble did last week.
According to a previous report by West Ham Way Pellegrini was looking to deploy Zabaleta in his midfield this season as he wanted Fredericks as his number one right-back.
While Declan Rice may be the more obvious candidate to take out instead of Noble, as he got dragged off at half-time last week, the teenager is a much more energetic presence than Noble and should perform better against the Cherries who should be less of a trial by fire for him compared to playing the Reds.
The final and third change that Pellegrini should make for the Bournemouth game is to use Aaron Cresswell instead of Arthur Masuaku.
Masuaku had a nightmare against the Reds and switching him out for Cresswell seems like the smartest decision to make as while he’s not the best defensively, the English defender is more reliable at the back than Masuaku.
The 28-year-old is believed to be fit as Manuel Pellegrini confirmed in his press conference, which is available on the club’s official site, that only Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Manuel Lanzini were unavailable due to injury.
With these three changes than the Hammers should have no problem rebounding from their heavy defeat to the Reds in order to overcome the Cherries on Saturday.
This is the best team we believe is possible for Pellegrini to field on Saturday:
