OPINION
West Ham United centre back Angelo Ogbonna will likely have felt a little hard done by after being dropped for Issa Diop against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The Italian international has been in decent form in recent months, certainly far better than Diop has been, but yet he will still likely be set for a long spell on the bench.
That’s because the young Frenchman was absolutely superb against Spurs. He absolutely cruised through the game, completely nullifying players like Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura and forming a solid partnership with Fabian Balbuena at the heart of the Hammers defence.
Ogbonna, on a reported £80,000-per-week at the club [Source: Spotrac], has now been left on the outside looking in. He hasn’t been able to form anything as solid a defensive duo with either Balbuena or Diop as they have with each other.
So even though he has outperformed Diop in recent months, the latter’s phenomenal partnership with Balbuena means that Ogbonna has now surely been relegated to a back up role once again.
It’s harsh on the 30-year-old, tremendously so, but that’s just the way it is. Manager Manuel Pellegrini is going to go with the centre back combination that he feels will give his team the best chance to win, and Ogbonna simply doesn’t feature in that equation.
Diop stole the show against Tottenham, while Balbuena was incredibly solid as well. Their displays will have sent alarm bells through the former Juventus man’s head; he’s now set for an extended stay on the periphery at the London Stadium.
