West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that Andriy Yarmolenko’s injury against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday is a headache he can ill afford.
The Chilean is already dealing with a raft of long term injuries, with Yarmolenko likely to join the likes of Winston Reid, Manuel Lanzini and Jack Wilshere on the treatment table after a scan on Sunday.
And the Hammers boss was frustrated after the 1-0 defeat to Spurs, admitting that it could be a long-term lay-off for the Ukrainian.
“We’ll see tomorrow after the medical examination, probably he has something wrong with his ankle but we will see what kind of injury it is,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s a pity because we have five players with long-term injuries – Lanzini, Wilshere, [Andy] Carroll, Carlos Sanchez and now we could have Yarmolenko. Four of them are midfielders so it’s not easy but we have to continue working with the players we have.”
OPINION
Pellegrini has a point, here. It’s always difficult when injuries occur in the same area of the pitch, as you only have so much depth in your squad per position. No matter how well you set your squad up over the years, if several players in the same position get injured the team will suffer. Pellegrini is already dealing with Wilshere and Sanchez being injured in the middle of midfield, now he has to handle the headache of Lanzini and Yarmolenko being unavailable on the wings as well. That sort of injury list would be tough for any manager, and Pellegrini is no exception. He needs to find a way to deal with these constant setbacks, though, because otherwise this could turn into a lost season for the Hammers. He still has enough players to fill the positions where players are injured, but not enough strength in depth to cope with the loss of key men like Lanzini, Wilshere and Yarmolenko. Perhaps the former Manchester City chief will dip back into the transfer market in January in order to solve this problem.
