West Ham’s FIVE Best Super Subs for Restart

Match fitness and player health will be at the forefront for the Premier League and West Ham, so David Moyes will need to rely on a few super subs to impact the late game.

The Premier League has announced that upon the league’s restart, teams will be permitted to use five substitutes and the bench will be extended from seven players to nine players. No one knows how much time will be required for West Ham to get their players back up to match speed, but regardless, bench management will be of utmost importance.

There isn’t a lot of faith in David Moyes right now to manage his extra players and substitutions as he failed to use three subs with any regularity prior to the football hiatus. Moyes should know now that he cannot continue to make these mistakes and has a lot of firepower at his disposal.

Before we can discern who is a super-sub for West Ham we need to identify the formation Moyes will be using and who misses out on the starting XI.

Before the stoppage, Moyes was playing around with a fairly fluid 4-4-2 formation. Sebastien Haller is crucial to the Hammers’ offence so this formation seemingly pulled the best from him, reminiscent of his Frankfurt days with Michail Antonio up top with him.

Who then makes the bench? Starting keeper first it could look as follows: Randolph, Balbuena, Ngakia/Fredericks/Johnson, Snodgrass, Noble, Wilshere, Lanzini, Anderson/Fornals, Ajeti. Which leaves out Holland, Masuaku, Zabaleta, Yarmolenko, Sanchez, Cardoso, and the leftover fullbacks.

Safe to say there will be rotation used in both the starting XI and for bench selection, especially with West Ham playing two matches in three days against Wolves and Tottenham.

So, who can be declared a super sub? Attacking wise look no further than Felipe Anderson or Pablo Fornals. One will be starting on the left side of the pitch and the other will be primed to come off the bench and make an impact, looking to sway the manager’s mind for future team selection.

Likewise, the right side of the pitch offers opportunities for Andriy Yarmolenko, Robert Snodgrass, and Nathan Holland to show what they’ve got. Yarmolenko has the most skill, Snodgrass has the best delivery and consistency, and Holland has the most potential – let the games begin!

In the midfield, Mark Noble will be the defacto first sub made to either inspire offence or shut down the game from a winning position. Don’t count out Lanzini or Wilshere though as viable options to play deeper and pull the strings.

Lastly, Ben Johnson should be looked at as a legitimate player for the team. Ngakia appears destined to leave the club, Fredericks is extremely injury prone, and Zabaleta isn’t an option realistically. Even on the left side, Moyes should be more included to trust the dual-footed youngster over Masuaku.

To put it all together, Anderson, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Wilshere, and Johnson are MY five names to watch off the bench for the restart. Of course, there are others who could play a bigger role eventually but this crew boasts skill and firepower, and shouldn’t be overlooked.