da jogodeouro： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
da betcris： The performance of Fabian Balbuena against Sheffield United will have give Manuel Pellegrini food for thought, but it will be a positive selection dilemma that he has for once.
West Ham lack depth in a number of key areas, with Albian Ajeti’s four appearances suggesting he is not good enough to rival Sebastien Haller’s spot, while Mark Noble and Declan Rice also lack a competitive understudy.
By comparison, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and now Balbuena have all impressed this term, so the Chilean will have to give some consideration as to who should get the nod.
Last season his preferred option at centre-back was Diop, with Balbuena and Ogbonna often rotated.
But if the Italian is left out again it could soon begin to upset the fans who have lavished praise on him recently, particularly if West Ham don’t improve defensively, having not kept a clean sheet in their last five games.
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As a result, the Hammers boss would perhaps be best suited to sticking with Ogbonna and Diop, but the ability of Balbuena should fill him with confidence and reason for optimism.
The Blades didn’t create a great deal on Saturday but their strikers had few opportunities due to the organisation of West Ham’s defence, with Balbuena’s stats from WhoScored displaying the contribution he made.
He outperformed many of his teammates against Chris Wilder’s side, both with and without the ball.
Only Pablo Zabaleta managed more than his combined total of two tackles and two interceptions, which suggests that his positioning was effective, and if Balbuena can use that aspect of his game to negate the weakness of his lack of pace he could become a regular once again.
In terms of his passing, he showed he could be pivotal to starting attacks, too, and that could be crucial in a side which has scored just 12 goals in ten league games.
He managed as many accurate long balls as Noble, with four, and bettered that of Felipe Anderson, and West Ham could miss that aspect of his game if the 28-year-old was to be left out.
Pellegrini, therefore, has different advantages in his players which could serve him well, so he will likely appreciate the various effective options that are at his disposal.