Julen Lopetegui, the head coach of West Ham United, will be able to call on three under-21 players following the international break.
And all three will be able to have an instant impact for West Ham.
Julen Lopetegui has had a tough start at the London Stadium, but Saturday’s excellent 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town shifted the narrative slightly.
Before the Ipswich game, there was discussion of Lopetegui being fired if results didn’t improve immediately, but he reportedly promised the board that he would turn things around.
The victory over the Tractor Boys was a fantastic start, but now Lopetegui must supervise a sustained period of good form.
The difficulty for Lopetegui is that he has a nightmare schedule following the international break.
So things are going to get even tougher for him and his squad. If the Hammers suffer a string of defeats, the atmosphere in East London could become nasty.
In my perspective, there’s one definite method for Lopetegui to win over the West Ham fans…
Three under-21 players prepared to make an immediate impact for West Ham.
Mark Robson has been doing an excellent job with the under-21s for the past year or so.
Our team has many outstanding young players, but three stand out in my perspective.
Ollie Scarles
The 19-year-old is perhaps the most highly regarded teenager in the club right now, and with good cause.
He is the complete package, with everything required to compete at the highest level of the game.
This season, the Hammers adolescent has played in central midfield, left defender, and even center forward for the minor squad!
The 18-year-old is highly regarded at the London Stadium, and Julen Lopetegui definitely believes in him, having already included him in first-team training sessions on several occasions.
Scarles wowed Hammers supporters during one of those training sessions when a video surfaced showing him matching Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s pace.
He has outstanding technical skill, plenty of pace, and, after bulking up during the off-season, he now has the physical traits required to compete in the Premier League.
Kaelan Casey
This season, the 19-year-old is effectively the Hammers’ fourth-choice centre-back, making him the most likely of the entire under-21 roster to feature for the senior club.
Casey, who is 6ft 1in tall, is not the tallest center defender, but he is quite strong in the air because to his tremendous leap.
The teenager has remarkable positional understanding for his age, and he is also extremely swift.
Casey stands out from the others in his age group because of his calm demeanor when he has the football at his feet.
I believe he is ready to go in and make an immediate impact for us if Lopetegui gives him the go-ahead.
Lewis Orford
The 18-year-old has the skill and will to become a Premier League star with the Hammers.
Orford has tremendous technical ability, is calm and collected with the ball at his feet, and has a wide range of passing options.
He is also highly brilliant, and for someone so young, his positional sense is already spot on.
The precocious adolescent improved dramatically last season and has already practiced with the first squad on several occasions.
Mark Noble recently praised about Orford, and the adolescent has a very bright career ahead of him.
Noble and David Sullivan were said to have prioritised keeping Lewis Orford at West Ham in the summer after he nearly left to join Aston Villa.
Thankfully, they were able to accomplish this, and I believe he will have an immediate influence for us when Premier League play resumes.
West Ham has a plethora of extremely good under-21 players, but the three stated above are on a different level and, in my opinion, are ready to step into the team and make an immediate impact for Julen Lopetegui.
The Spaniard’s bravery in using any of them remains to be seen.
