Youth Movement in West Ham’s Carabao Cup match?

West Ham have left some important names off of their U23 match last night which raises questions about the injection of youth into what promises to be an interesting and eventful London Derby with the Carabao Cup match against Tottenham.

West Ham’s U23 team played FC Porto in the International Cup on October 30th. The team pulled out a last minute win with a 2-1 scoreline. The opening goal was from Emmanuel Longelo, his first for the U23 team, in the 28th minute. Porto would tie it up in the 68th minute to hopefully escape with a draw but Jahmal Hector-Ingram’s 87th-minute goal would see all three points go to the Hammers.

The match was exciting and the win was West Ham’s first ever in the International Cup. Despite the win, the big story revolved around which youth players weren’t in the team. Conor Coventry, Joe Powell, Xande Silva, Reece Oxford, Moses Makasi, and (obviously) Grady Diangana. Let’s get to speculation!

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The midfield duo of Coventry and Powell are creeping closer and closer to regular time with the first team. The duo took their chances against Macclesfield Town and haven’t looked back since. Both Coventry and Powell featured on the bench against Leicester City with the injuries to Andriy Yarmolenko and Pedro Obiang creating space for them.

With Mark Noble’s red card suspension and Obiang’s calf issues, the duo could very well get a chance in the Cup match with Spurs. It’ll likely be a bench start for both but with the team thin on midfield options there could be some substitution appearances.

Grady Diangana is as set as any player in the first team currently. He has assumed the starting position on the right wing in Yarmolenko’s absence after manager Manuel Pellegrini has selected him over Michail Antonio. Diangana has looked energetic and tricky down the wing; he has two months not to prove to his manager that the team doesn’t need to go spend on a winger replacement for their injured starter.

Reece Oxford is maybe the most intriguing name on this list because of his checkered past with the club. The wantaway defender enjoyed his time in Germany so much he was “desperate” to return there in January of last year after falling out of favor with Bilic and Moyes for poor play. With Pellegrini wiping the slate clean, however, and the decline of a few loan moves Oxford has captained the U23 team seven times this season.

Could Oxford start? I think its likely only out of necessity for the first choice centre-back duo. Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena deserve some rest and if either can take this match off its a bonus. Angelo Ogbonna will undoubtedly start and Oxford should beside him. He is a massive talent and needs to start showing it to the team who invested in him.

Moses Makasi is probably a throwaway selection. The player is 23 years of age and has missed all but one game this season with injury. At that advanced age, he is likely to have passed up the opportunity to graduate through the academy for West Ham, especially with the emergence of Coventry and Powell.

Finally, we’ll end with Xande Silva. The Portuguese forward was bought this past summer and has impressed with the U23 team. He’s scored five goals in five U23 matches this year including a debut hat trick against the Tottenham U23 team proving his nose for the net. He was likely to start against Macclesfield Town but pulled up with a hamstring injury that has kept him out since. He probably won’t start for West Ham but I would be less than surprised to see Silva come off the bench for Chicharito in this match.