Julen Lopetegui rang the changes for West Ham and then was allowed to change it up against because of Manchester United’s complete inability to finish their chances
Julen Lopetegui rolled the dice.
And the West Ham boss was mighty fortunate that Manchester United were forgiving enough to allow him a second attempt. After the embarrassment of losing 4-1 to Tottenham eight days’ previous, Lopetegui made changes in every department.
Yet within a few minutes of this low-quality, high-entertainment clash it was apparent that those switches were not producing the desired effect. West Ham were ponderous in attack and bafflingly open at the back during a dire opening 45 minutes in which they should have been three goals down.
Yet Lopetegui’s recognition of their flaws and willingness to tinker further turned this match on its head.
United will justifiably gripe about the VAR decision to award West Ham their late winning penalty, converted by Jarrod Bowen, but Lopetegui’s triple substitution had swung the momentum long before. And in Crysencio Summerville, he pulled a trump card. The Dutch winger, a £25m summer arrival from Leeds, was expected to start in place of the suspended Mohammed Kudus.
That Summerville looked desperate to prove a point when finally introduced was an understatement. He scrambled in the opening goal from close range – and rushed straight to Kudus, who was sitting behind the dugout, to celebrate.
“I said to him if I go on I will score,” Summerville said.
Summerville had already offered an element of unpredictability that has been sorely missing in Lopetegui’s inconsistent side. He was energetic, direct and got supporters who had aired their grievances at the interval involved.
That he was named man of the match was hard to dispute.
“A lot of emotions,” he added, “because every forward player wants to play. I try to help the team in any way I can. I’m always patient and do my best on the training ground. I have to respect the coach’s decisions but I try to help the team as best as possible.”
This was a huge help and, surely, deserving of a start away to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
It must still be stressed that the Hammers were not at their brilliant best in the second period. And the defence could certainly do with tightening up. But, against a United team suffering a profound crisis of confidence in attack, competence rather than brilliance is all that is required to get a result.
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