New West Ham signing not called-up by his national team

Recently, the England national team made a huge decision regarding the surprising omission of West Ham star forward and captain Jarrod Bowen from their UEFA Nations League squad. A huge reason behind Bowen's omission is due to the fact that both Bowen and West Ham have been largely inconsistent in the beginning of the new season. Now, another first team star has been not called-up by his national side following an underwhelming start at the Hammers in the Premier League. 

For their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Argentina national team has released their squad for the matches against Venezuela and Bolivia. However, the defending World Cup Champions left out Guido Rodriguez from their squad which comes as another blow for West Ham. Initially it was expected that Julen Lopetegui's side had assembled a great midfield with Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez as two quality defensive midfielders playing in a double pivot role. 

New West Ham signing not called-up by his national team

Aside from the initial matches against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, that hasn't been the case with Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez looking slow while defending, and Alvarez even got a red card against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. Further, against Chelsea both Alvarez and Rodriguez couldn't deal with Chelsea's high-pressing as well as Nicolas Jackson's blistering pace, which resulted in West Ham conceding two quick goals in the 3-0 defeat. 

Moreover, Tomas Soucek has been more reliable than Rodriguez in the recent matches, while playing as a box-to-box midfielder. Soucek doesn't possess a great pace either, but he has won more ball possession and is tenacious in his tackling ability. On top of that, Carlos Soler has been getting more playing time as well and could replace Guido Rodriguez as the first choice pivot alongside Alvarez, if he improves his pace and high-pressing ability. 

Therefore, midfield is becoming a key area which West Ham need to improve to return to winning ways in the Premier League.