OPINION
West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna underwent a bit of a renaissance recently, and his name will have been one of first on the team sheet week after week.
The 30-year-old outdid himself on a regular basis in the absence of Fabian Balbuena, but his recent performance in the 2-0 loss to Cardiff suggests that road has come to a dead end.
He looked a complete shadow of the player that he has been for a while – his positioning for the Bluebirds’ first goal was questionable, and in the second half, he was completely anonymous and you could hardly tell that he was on the pitch.
This is a shame, as Ogbonna was starting to cause a selection headache for boss Manuel Pellegrini, but the decision to drop him must now be a no-brainer – and if Balbuena comes in and performs like he did at the start of the season, then Ogbonna’s time on the bench is going to increase significantly.
Balbuena is now fit and raring to go after his recent injury and his likely inclusion would be a rather welcome one after the disaster that was Saturday.
The Hammers have a great chance of returning to winning ways against a struggling Huddersfield this weekend, and what better way for Balbuena to get back into the swing of things than impressing in this fixture?
It may be ruthless to axe a player who has been stellar in the centre of defence recently, but it really looks like Pellegrini has no other choice. Balbuena needs to revive his steady partnership with Issa Diop, and this needs to happen as soon as possible.
Pellegrini needs to brutally axe the enforcer as soon as possible after this woeful display – his time has come to end.
