West Ham United will have the likes of Taty Castellanos and Axel Disasi available during Wednesday’s trip to Fulham; Nuno Espirito Santo going head to head with fellow Portuguese Marco Silva at Craven Cottage.
In fact, of the eleven players who started for Nuno during December’s 1-0 home defeat by the Cottagers, arguably only four are expected to start this midweek.
Freddie Potts is suspended, this the final match of his three-game ban. Mads Hermansen should keep his place over Alphonse Areola, while that four-man backline of Kyle Walker-Peters, Ollie Scarles, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo has been replaced by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Axel Disasi thanks to the end of AFCON and a lively January transfer window.
Marco Silva acknowledges the impact made by the ‘experienced’ Disasi while, at the other end, Taty Castellanos will hope to build on his consolation effort in Saturday’s 5-2 defeat by Liverpool.
The difference in mood brought about by a couple of new signings proves that, yes, there really is value to be found in January.
Marco Silva thinks West Ham United have benefited from January signings
Speaking to the Fulham’s official website ahead of Wednesday’s 7.30pm kick-off in West London, Silva warns his players to expect a ‘completely different’ team from the one they beat nearly three months ago.
Ollie Scarles walked off in tears that day after gifting Raul Jimenez his 85th minute winner. The young left-back is one of seven players who started on December 27th who are now stuck on the bench or – in the case of Lucas Paqueta – have moved onto pastures new.
“They are in a completely different moment. Of course, they are not a completely different team, but I can see many differences there [from the December meeting],” Silva says.
“They signed some players, and they readjusted the squad a little bit last January, but you see the organisation is there. They have been very difficult to beat. Even in games that they lost, they played a big part. Even last game against Liverpool, you can feel [their improvement].
“[They signed new players] more in the frontline, but also with an experienced central defender. You can feel it, definitely. Many things are different.
“You can feel their organisation and confidence. It is not easy to be in the position they are in, playing with confidence. That is the reason why they have been able to get some points and have been difficult to beat.”
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