In what will come as wonderful news and a considerable relief for West Ham United manager and current saviour David Moyes, Manuel Lanzini has declared that he will be ready and able if selected to play Hammers next fixture against Liverpool at Anfield on the 24th of February. Lanzini has been recovering from a serious hamstring injury that he acquired during the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, but encouragingly he has taken to social media to declare his fitness, he has also confided with his team mates, most noticeably goal keeper Adrian San Miguel, about how well his recovery has gone. This is all good news with good form of the attacking players of late.
The little Argentine’s recovery will however now throw up a selection problem or two for his manager, ‘Super Mario’, on loan from Inter Milan, has flourished since arriving at the London Stadium during the January transfer window and has slotted in to the team seamlessly, but maybe he will have to be the one to make way? This would be a pity given how well João Mario has managed to integrate with his new team, losing the inertia of his arrival could prove to be costly to Hammers avoiding relegation campaign, it is a selection headache for Moyes but one that shows the crippling injury list might finally be dwindling. But i guess that what the manger is there for.
Marko Arnautovic returned to the West Ham starting line up for the 2-0 win over Watford last weekend and put in a fine display of style and grit culminating with his sharply taken goal, the opportunity to link up with Lanzini is a prospect ‘Elbows’ is licking his lips at, the pair had been on fire prior to their respective injuries and it is to be hoped they can pick up where they left off.
Adrian has revealed that “the little jewel’ Manuel Lanzini is “ready to come back” after nearly a month out with his hamstring injury. Speaking to the Hammers official website about the combination of Arnoutovic and Lanzini, the Spaniard said: “Marko is a great player, everyone knows that, and you absolutely miss this kind of player [when he is out injured] and you have to adapt and work in a different way, but now we have Marko back and Manu [Lanzini] is ready to come to the team. “We hope all the injured players will come back as soon as possible and we can work all together until the end.”
Lanzini’s availability is a massive boost for beleaguered Hammers supporters, but someone somwhere’s joy will be tinged with the reality that they will not be getting nearly as much game time as they recently had, but who will it be, and more importantly how will they take the news?
That’s Moyes‘ problem, but not a bad one to have
By Daniel Hatcher