The international break will be a heart in mouth time for the West Ham United fans, with numerous different players jetting off to all corners of the world with their respective nations.
West Ham are set to lose eight players for this particular international break, so there is the obvious concern that not all of them will return to the club fully fit.
The Hammers are in a strong position right now. David Moyes has guided us to the Europa League quarter-finals, where an enticing clash with Bayer Leverkusen awaits, and I believe we actually have a good chance of progressing through to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, West Ham are slotted in nicely in seventh position in the Premier League table, with a real chance of securing European football again next season.
We are set up really nicely to enjoy a very strong finish to the season. However, Moyes’s squad definitely lacks proper strength in depth, and any injuries to our key players could prove costly.
So it’s easy to see why the international break induces feelings of trepidation…
West Ham star faces 10,000 mile round trip during international break
If the Hammers are to maintain our current position in the Premier League table, and reach the final four of the Europa League, we absolutely cannot afford to lose any players to injury over the course of the next week or so.
However, there is one player who we don’t need to be too worried about, despite the massive journey that he faces in the air.
Edson Alvarez will play a key role for Mexico in their upcoming CONACAF Nations League semi-final against Panama out in Dallas on March 22nd. He’ll then play again just 48 hours later in either the final or the third and fourth place play-off.
The flight from London to Dallas takes around 10 hours and is just under 5,000 miles long. So combined with the travelling that the 26-year-old will do out in the United States, he faces a mammoth 10,000 mile journey in the air over the course of next week.
However, fear not Hammers fans. The former Ajax man is set to miss three out of our next four games anyway through suspension – two in the Premier League and one in the Europa League.
So he won’t be playing every minute of every single game when he’s back anyway. The long journey for Alvarez in the international break will be extremely taxing for him, but it shouldn’t adversely affect his performances for West Ham one little bit.
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