Five possible changes to West Ham’s starting XI for Cardiff City

A short week and some possible injuries leave West Ham’s team selection up in the air. Here are the possible five changes to West Ham’s first team as they host Cardiff City.

Andy Carroll to start?

A top Manuel Pellegrini’s 4-2-2-2 formation sat the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde tandem of firing Chicharito and misfiring Arnautovic for West Ham’s win over Newcastle. Chicharito is a lock for this game after missing a massive chunk of the season with illness as he won’t be struggling for match fitness. Little Pea’s striker partner, however, is still up in the air.

Needlessly held back against Manchester City and against his hometown club Newcastle, Andy Carroll could be in line to start for West Ham’s next match. The conventional wisdom of managers past forced Carroll into the starting XI as soon as he was fit but Pellegrini getting him match fit in training shows patience and a plan.

With congested fixtures in December, it is likely that West Ham supporters will see a revolving door at striker with Pellegrini riding the hot hand. Chicharito is firing, Arnautovic is injured and needs time to rest. Welcoming Carroll into the starting XI is only logical.

Bring back the kid!

Grady Diangana was dropped against Newcastle for strategic purposes. Robert Snodgrass replaced him for his proficiency to get balls into the box. Pellegrini’s gamble paid off as Snodgrass set up the first and winning goal of the match. With Cardiff City coming to the London Stadium lacking the defensive structure Rafa Benitez brings to Newcastle, it’s time to bring back Diangana.

Diangana brings speed and skill to the wing and can settle into the right attacking midfielder role that Snodgrass did on Saturday. He’ll have more space to roam into the middle of the pitch which suits him but will also have the sideline to run down all match long. Snodgrass retains a bench position for a late-game substitution.

Fright night at left-back

With five critical blocks in the first half alone, Aaron Cresswell took his chance and ran with it against Newcastle. He played a simple and effective match against the Toons, prioritizing defensive coverage over offensive runs. When he pulled up lame 55 minutes into the match, however, West Ham fans were cringing.

Yup, Masuaku came into the game and looked his usual riverboat gamblin’ self. Always happy to run and dribble up the pitch and always happy to make ineffective plays defensively, Masuaku is a bit of a scare when playing. That being said, as critical or benign as Cresswell’s injury may be it seems unlikely that he’ll start, so the door is open for Masuaku.

I’d really prefer not to have him start, but it’s a necessity. Luckily Cardiff lacks the wing play that even Newcastle have so West Ham may be able to escape unharmed here.

Jack in the midfield?

Out of the box and into the midfield? Seems like it could happen for West Ham’s interim English midfield captain. Mark Noble returned to action following his suspension and unused sub appearance and had a quiet day at Newcastle. Declan Rice has rounded into form this season and outshone his role model in this match, too.

With Pellegrini quick to rotate players around his stars, Noble could start this Cardiff match in order to inject Jack Wilshere against Cardiff, specifically. This substitution is more speculative than the others, but there is a chance that after his minimal sub time at Newcastle Wilshere could be ready for, at minimum, sixty minutes of Premier League action.

Shades of Bilic

Manuel Pellegrini has stated that star starting right back Pablo Zabaleta cannot play seven matches in four weeks, so with Fredericks injured who’s up next. This is not a two-year-old recording – Michail Antonio will be West Ham’s right back against Cardiff City.

Pellegrini is falling back to a Slaven Bilic tactic that didn’t really prove fruitful in the past by moving the right winger/striker to right back. It’s a move made out of necessity but one that doesn’t instill confidence in the team (or supporters). Ideally, you wouldn’t want to be taking chances with both Masuaku and Antonio as your fullbacks in the same game but I do think Antonio is a better defender than his left-sided counterpart.

Cardiff City is the team you’ll see this attacking heavy team come into action, and it makes sense. Cardiff are -14 on goal differential this season and currently sit below West Ham in the table. The Premier League newcomers are relegation favorites but can’t be overlooked, however, if the mainstays for West Ham can click early this game should be in hand for the Hammers.