OPINION
Fabian Balbuena must be wondering what he has done to upset Manuel Pellegrini.
The Paraguayan defender hasn’t had a look in since returning from the knee injury that sidelined him for a decent chunk of this season, despite the fact that both Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna have looked far from dependable in recent times.
Both of Pellegrini’s go to men have been underwhelming over the past few matches, and it’s almost a tossup as to who should be eased out of the way to bring Balbuena back into the side, but regardless of who gets the shove, the South American must return against Chelsea.
On the one hand, Ogbonna has probably been the slightly better of the two in the past few weeks, on the other, Balbuena and Diop had a fine partnership at the beginning of the season, and bringing the former back could help kickstart the latter’s form.
The £40,000-a-week defender [Spotrac] clearly deserves a second chance in the first team, and bringing him back against Chelsea would make an awful lot of sense.
The Blues are likely to start with Olivier Giroud over Gonzalo Higuain up front, and the Frenchman requires a marker who is willing to go toe-to-toe with him in the air.
Neither Ogbonna or Diop have looked like particularly assured aerial presences recently, and bringing Balbuena in, despite his probable rustiness, is surely the best chance West Ham have of stopping the World Cup winner from causing absolute havoc in the box.
