David Moyes is calling on Gianluca Scamacca to prove he deserves more opportunities to lead West Ham ’s attack by delivering a high-energy performance against AEK Larnaca on Thursday night.
The Hammers boss said the £30m summer signing’s “data needed to be much better” after he was left on the bench during last weekend’s draw against Aston Villa. Moyes refused to elaborate on specific metrics but, with West Ham going into the Europa Conference League last-16 second leg with a 2-0 lead, he spelled out the challenge for the Italy striker who has struggled for form since injuring his knee in early January.
“It’s a good chance for him, we want him back. He’s got something. We like him a lot. He is a great boy. A really good boy. In fact, a very good boy. We want him to do well. We want our Gianluca back who we had from August to November,” Moyes said.
“The one we have got right now looks slightly different. We need him to get back to those levels because we could use him, we could play him. I'm not going to elaborate [on the data] but we want him to be physically working hard for the team, getting in the right goalscoring positions, playing like a 6'4" centre forward and covering all the ground. That’s what we want from him.
“In the early part of the season, we saw that. I just think we haven’t seen it since he has come back from his injury.”
Moyes has promised “some changes” to his starting XI and Pablo Fornals, who has made more European appearances for West Ham than any other player, is also set to start at London Stadium. Vladimir Coufal remains out with a foot injury while Michail Antonio is nursing a calf issue.
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“We can’t think the job is done,” Fornals said. “It’s obviously not. We did well in the first leg, with good space for the second one but it’s not finished.”
Moyes has been boosted by Lukasz Fabianski returning to training earlier than first thought after fracturing his eye socket and cheekbone against Nottingham Forest last month. The Poland goalkeeper is wearing a specially designed mask and no decision has been made over when he can return to action.
"He is desperate to come back," the manager said of Fabianski. "He feels like he is ready. Medically, we are a little bit unsure as they are worried about him getting a ball in the face. He is saying he is not bothered about that and wants to get back playing.
"He wants to actually play without the mask. The mask is just there for training to protect him and no risk. More than likely, by the time we come back in a couple of weeks time, hopefully he won’t be too far away.
"Sometimes, anything on your face means you don’t see other things, if you wear a hat or glasses, so a mask like that may not be great for a goalkeeper."
