OPINION
Prior to his injury, things were going pretty well for Fabian Balbuena since he moved to England.
The Paraguayan was holding down his place in the West Ham first team and was well on the way to building a solid partnership with Issa Diop.
Then came that freakish knee injury and a prolonged spell on the sidelines. During his absence Angelo Ogbonna stepped into the breach and did a decent enough job, meaning that upon his return to fitness, Balbuena has largely been a spectator.
Whether that was because of a belief that the Italian was the better option, or simply down to an unwillingness to tinker too much with his backline, Manuel Pellegrini has stuck to his guns fairly readily in recent weeks, but the performance put in against Huddersfield Town just prior to the international break must have him thinking twice about his choices.
The Hammers looked frail at the back and conceded three goals against a side who hadn’t achieved that feat in any of their previous matches this season.
Now, given the disruption of the international break, and the space and time that this has allowed for him to reassess his options, the Chilean faces a crunch decision that could define his season.
That’s not to say that choosing Ogbonna over Balbuena, or vice versa, would make too much of a difference in terms of results for the Irons, but with regards to whether or not he want stop change things up at the London Stadium or simply rely on the same old guard that has faltered for so long, the boss has a real chance to set the tone of his tenure.
