Yarmolenko slowly getting back to full power for West Ham

West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko has struggled since his return from injury, falling behind Antonio in the preference order. However the Ukrainian can still return to full power and be instrumental for the Hammers.

There’s been a fair amount of criticism for Andriy Yarmolenko since the season began, with a lot of social media calling for Antonio to be installed above him permanently. Pellegrini has seemed to want Yarmolenko, however has accepted that the Ukrainian is not at his best right now and Antonio has been more effective for West Ham.

But with Antonio seemingly injuring his hamstring in the midweek match Yarmolenko could well be set for a long stint in the first XI. But that isn’t a bad thing in any way shape or form. In terms of technical ability he’s vastly above Antonio, and as he is capable of scoring goals against the best. When he gets his confidence back anyway.

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Against Watford the game did open up once Antonio came on, but that was simply due to the option of pace that he offered. Yarmolenko didn’t play poorly, but he doesn’t have the pace Antonio does. And not many do to be fair. This is why I would have kept Diangana, but that’s an article for another time. But he does offer goalscoring from around the pitch, but he needs to get his confidence back.

Yarmolenko is tall and strong, but right now he seems very worried about pushing himself into the challenge too often, or trying to turn on the boosters to get past the defender. That is completely understandable given his injury, and it’s something we saw with Lanzini last season, but has returned to his best now. The Ukrainian could be only a game or so away from cutting inside and bending it back beyond the keeper. And then it’s game on, and good luck to those marking him.

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With Anderson coming into his own on the left, Lanzini dominating possession and Haller showing that he was worth the money, Yarmolenko could be given more space than he had been in his prime, and that could give him the confidence to push on. Don’t sleep on Andriy, there’s a good chance he could be on the scoresheet this weekend.