Although manager Julen Lopetegui revealed that he brought Cryscencio Summerville as a second half substitute against Manchester United to create more goalscoring chances, the 22-year-old should have been given more playing time against Nottingham Forest after his goal in that 2-1 home win. Lopetegui started the former Leeds United star as well in the away fixture against Nuno Espirito Santo's side, but made a surprising decision to bring Michail Antonio in the front three to replace Summerville.
The decision to make a lineup change in the second half was due to the fact that Edson Alvarez received another red-card this season against Nottingham Forest. The Hammers were already 1-0 down and now had to play with ten players, thus, a large section of the West Ham fans expected that a midfielder such as Carlos Soler or Andy Irving would be brought into the team in the place of a forward.
Lopetegui again gave limited playing time to impressive star in away defeat
Lucas Paqueta had been struggling in the previous few matches against Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester United and thus, should have been replaced in the second half. However, Lopetegui decided to replace one of West Ham's most promising player instead, Cryscencio Summerville.
Summerville's impressive pace would have helped West Ham to win the ball possession quickly as well as create some chances down the left flank in order to make a comeback into the match. But that wasn't the case and further, Lopetegui brought experienced forward Michail Antonio instead of bringing Andy Irving into the lineup.
Antonio hasn't enjoyed a brilliant start to the season and his form and fitness haven't been convincing in the previous two seasons, thus playing him in the attack alongside Lucas Paqueta meant that West Ham couldn't advance much inside the Nottingham Forest half. Further, the home side formed a rock-solid defence which registered their fourth clean-sheet in the Premier League to take a huge 3-0 win against the Hammers.
Again West Ham couldn't secure back-to-back wins in the ongoing Premier League season and now must take a convincing home win against Everton in order to boost their momentum for the upcoming matches after the international break.