A spate of soft tissue injuries could well be incoming at West Ham United imminently, and there is one man to blame.
Things are really starting to heat up for West Ham now, and David Moyes is under real pressure following a run of just four wins since the turn of the year.
Rumours are circulating that Tim Steidten is winning the behind-the-scenes power struggle with Moyes, and could have full power when it comes to player recruitment this summer.
Regardless of what the ‘Moyes in’ fanatics will tell you, the Scot really should have done better with what he had available to him during the second half of the season.
We had a real chance to kick on in the January transfer window, but instead we’ve gone backwards. That was on Moyes as far as I’m concerned.
He’s well known to prefer a small squad and has admitted that himself on numerous occasions in the past.
Now the self-inflicted problems caused by Moyes are really coming home to roost…
Spate of soft tissue injuries incoming at West Ham
I hate to even suggest this, but with the first-team squad having been stretched to the limit this season, it won’t be too long before some of our key players break.
The more you push players to their limits, the more risk of soft tissue injuries comes into play.
This isn’t just made up waffle – it’s a very real phenomenon. Sure, some players these days are prima donnas but overload, stress and fatigue doesn’t care who you are.
According to the National Institute of Health, overload and repetitive stress can lead to soft tissue injuries, i.e hamstring, calf or thigh tears.
I really hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s obvious to see that our players could well start dropping like flies.
Moyes likes to flog the same starting XI time and time again. Amazingly, he failed to make one single sub during our draw with Tottenham 11 days ago, yet bemoaned the fact that his players were tired.
He didn’t make any changes until the final 10 minutes during our defeat to Leverkusen on Thursday night, despite it being painfully obvious that the players on the pitch were flagging.
Moyes has a tiny squad at his disposal, and he definitely didn’t need to get rid of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals in January – certainly not without replacing either of them.
We can’t blame David Sullivan for our poor squad depth either. Moyes rejected the chance to sign numerous top tier players in the January window (Claret and Hugh).
Even if he made a couple of loan signings – a left winger or a striker and a centre-back – we’d be in a far stronger position now.
Given how many games West Ham have coming up in quick succession over the next two or three weeks, it would not surprise me one little bit if our players started picking up injuries.
It’s just a matter of time if you ask me.
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