West Ham had to make a huge lineup change for the Manchester United match due to Mohammed Kudus's red-card against Tottenham Hotspurs. While Lucas Paqueta and Cryscencio Summerville were highly likely to play on the left-wing against Erik Ten Hag's side, Julen Lopetegui surprised a lot of West Ham fans as he decided to play box-to-box midfielder Carlos Soler on the left flank instead.
The 27-year-old on-loan star looked in fine form while coming on as a second half substitute against Tottenham Hotspurs, and thus, was rewarded with his first Premier League start in this massive home fixture. However, Soler is an all-round midfielder and passing as well as making long through-balls inside the final third are one of his biggest strengths.
Lopetegui made a huge lineup mistake regarding 27-year-old star
Still, Lopetegui started the Spain international as a left sided forward, but Noussair Mazraoui and Casemiro successfully managed to defend against him. Moreover, Lucas Paqueta gave away the ball possession a few times in the midfield, and Soler often had to help Guido Rodriguez and Edson Alvarez on defending Manchester United's counter-attack. Overall, playing Soler out-of-position didn't worked well, and Lopetegui brought Summerville to replace him in the second half.
While Soler oozes quality and composure in the midfield with his wide range of passing, playing as a forward isn't Soler's preferred position. Similarly, Lopetegui started defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez as a third centre-back against Chelsea instead of playing Jean-Clair Todibo last month. That decision also proved to be a huge lineup mistake as the Mexico international couldn't match the pace of Chelsea forwards Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer in a 3-0 home defeat.
However, West Ham managed to keep Manchester United away from scoring in the first half, and second half substitute Cryscencio Summerville highlighted his impressive finishing as he gave the 1-0 lead to the Hammers. Now, it remains to be seen whether Lopetegui brings Summerville in the starting lineup against Nottingham Forest and Everton.