West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that the injured trio of Andriy Yarmolenko, Carlos Sanchez and Winston Reid will be out for the season. The Chilean gaffer also didn’t appear to be too optimistic over a return for Jack Wilshere either, saying that he had “some doubts if he will be ready”
Wilshere and Sanchez were brought in to strengthen the Hammers midfield, an area identified by Pellegrini at the beginning of the season as one requiring serious reinforcement. Declan Rice’s rise has mitigated the problems caused by their absence, but Pellegrini has been forced to use the youngster and veteran Mark Noble as a pairing in almost every match, with Pedro Obiang off the bench and Robert Snodgrass filling in there from time to time. Rice has grown in stature with every fixture following a tough start on the opening day of the season against Liverpool, and has even earned a nomination for Young Player of the Year at the 2019 London Football Awards. [Read more…]
