English FA Strikes West ham Lately As Graham Potter Is To Sit At The Dug Out Against Arsenal.
Graham Potter confirms West Ham absentees
Potter hasn’t had the best of luck since his arrival in East London.
The boss was limited in what he could do during the winter transfer window due to Julen Lopetegui having spent money in the summer window meaning improvements were limited.
However, a number of injuries in the side have left the boss without the squad depth to try and rotate his players and try out different systems.
What he will be thankful for is that Jarrod Bowen recently returned from injury and looked to be his usual self with a goal against Chelsea on his return.
However, the boss certainly needs more options to take the pressure off as he looks for another three points to drag his side up the Premier League table.
Unfortunately, though, more injury misery has hit East London as Potter confirmed the state of his squad in his pre-match press conference.
He said: “Lucas Paqueta has been involved in a ‘training incident’, ruling him out of the Arsenal game. He went over on his ankle in a little bit of a collision with Aaron Wan-Bissaka. So yeah, he’ll be missing for the game and probably Leicester as well.
Although a trip to Arsenal, who sit second in the league may not be the ideal starting point for the Hammers to change their fortunes around, Gabby Agbonlahor is one man who has backed Potter to do it.
While you can’t imagine the 49-year-old will be under any real pressure when it comes to the security of his job, another win under his belt would surely take a big weight off the shoulders for both him and his squad.
Since his arrival, Potter has won one of his Premier League games, drawing one and losing the other three fixtures.
With the appointment of Potter, it was always going to be a more long-term project at the London Stadium and the supporters are much more content than they were under Lopetegui.
Nevertheless, building some momentum and trying to get a string of wins together going into the remainder of the campaign would be a massive boost for all in East London.
The boss will be praying he gets some more positive injury news soon which would give him a bit of breathing space when it comes to team selection.