A top West Ham star could be dropped for the big game against Ipswich after what happened last week but his replacement will divide opinion.
Julen Lopetegui has some major selection dilemmas for the Premier League clash with Ipswich.
The Tractor Boys have been no pushovers so far on their return to the big time – as their 2-2 draw with Villa proved last week.
Lopetegui is under mounting pressure to get performances and results at West Ham.
The Spaniard has overseen just one Prem win so far.
That will have to change when Ipswich come to the London Stadium if he is to avoid two weeks of intense speculation over his future during the international break.
There have been some glimpses – nothing more – that the penny might be edging closer to dropping for West Ham.
But Lopetegui is having to take some extreme action to get his message across.
The 57-year-old had a bust-up with star player Mohammed Kudus with West Ham trailing Brentford at half-time of last week’s 1-1 draw.
Kudus did not take kindly for being singled out for criticism about not being a team player. He was hauled off and the Ghanaian was seen kicking a chair on his return to the bench in the second half.
Lopetegui confirmed after the game it was a tactical decision to sub Kudus.
West Ham sources have since insisted the incident is behind them.
But Kudus was not the only West Ham player subbed off at half-time at the Gtech.
Top West Ham star dropped for Ipswich after incident?
And a top West Ham star could be dropped for Ipswich after an incident last week but his replacement will divide opinion.
When West Ham signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £15m in the summer fans were delighted.
Finally the Hammers had gone out and spent decent money to get a top class right-back.
Wan-Bissaka has already showed just how good he is going to be for West Ham.
And not just at right-back either.
It has gone somewhat under the radar that Wan-Bissaka has been as good – if not better – when deputising at left-back for Emerson Palmieri.
There aren’t too many West Ham players who can say they’ve played consistently well in 2024 let alone this season.
That extends to a player who had become one of the team’s most reliable – Emerson.
After a poor start to life in east London following a £13.5m move from Chelsea, Emerson came into his own from that Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar onwards.
But since the turn of the year he, like so many others, have been well off the pace in the claret and blue.
Linked with moves to Milan and Turkey in the summer, Emerson has not looked like the swashbuckling star who made himself a Hammers fan favourite.
Jamie Carragher singled Emerson out for criticism on Monday Night Football over the incident which saw West Ham embarrassingly concede after just 38 seconds at Brentford.
“This is just about being alive and pace and energy,” Carragher said.
“West Ham don’t look alive, especially the left-back there Emerson. He’s been done on the first run initially, Ajer puts the ball in and look at Emerson, he’s got to be closer, and he’s got to be aggressive.”
That encapsulates how many have felt about Emerson’s performances this year.
West Ham fans will be divided about replacement
The bad news for Emerson now is that in Wan-Bissaka, Lopetegui has found someone more than capable of replacing him at left-back.
And that’s just what might happen against Ipswich.
That won’t go down well with some West Ham fans who want to see Wan-Bissaka bed into the side in his natural position.
The idea was that they would have two quality full-backs rampaging up and down their natural sides in Wan-Bissaka and Emerson.
But Wan-Bissaka has been so good at left-back when used there. And Konstantinos Mavropanos was also very impressive at right-back when he was subbed on at half-time for Emerson.
So Lopetegui – who raved about the big Greek after the game – has a massive decision to make.
The Hammers boss could well drop Emerson now and go with Wan-Bissaka at left-back and Mavropanos at right-back.
It means yet more changes to the team which is not great for trying to find continuity and rythm.
If it works, though, then Lopetegui may have just stumbled on the answer to his issues.
Of course he has to make big calls on Kudus and Lucas Paqueta too. The Brazilian was poor again and justifiably subbed off against the Bees.
All eyes now will be on that starting XI on Saturday. There have been plenty of surprises so far from Lopetegui so could we be in for another?
And would it even be that much of a surprise based on the performances of the individuals involved?