Blooding youngsters
Despite the late 2-1 loss to Leicester City on Monday afternoon West Ham's Under-23 team are having a superb season. After 17 matches Mark Robson's side are sitting top of the table, two points clear of Manchester City.
The defeat to Leicester was the Hammers' first in nine since the Foxes triumph 2-1 on November 1 in the reverse fixture earlier this season. Results of course are no everything at academy level with the team used as a way to blood youngsters for the first team, something West Ham are doing superbly.
Of the Hammers starting XI seven have made their senior debut and only three have not been involved in a senior matchday squad. The taste of first-team action David Moyes has given them will only go onto fuel their hunger for more first-team action but in the meantime performing at the Under-23 level will continue to press their case for senior minutes.
The most experienced player of the group, Harrison Ashby, performed well on the right of defence whilst the youngster member of the team Sonny Perkins scored a fine goal. Perkins is the only member of the team that lost to Leicester who has featured in the Premier League, and there are high hopes for the England Under-18 international.
Defeat against Leicester was not ideal but cannot cloud a superb 2021-22 campaign and the fantastic conveyer belt of talent the academy is continuing to produce.
Leaders in the team
Throughout the match there were two voices in particular that were the most vocal. Aji Alese had a nightmare start to the game when he gifted Leicester an opener just two minutes in with an errant back-pass but the captain recovered well and marshalled his troops throughout.
He was constantly directing those in front of him and was the clear leader of the backline, organising and cajoling when necessary.
Following his European debut for West Ham in December, it was Alese who was asked to complete the media duties required of at least one player post-match. In hindsight, it should be no surprise that of the youthful team that took on Dinamo Zagreb it was Alese who was put up to the press considering his natural leadership abilities.
In December Alese was a confident yet humble man following his European bow and spoke with great pride about being selected for the encounter. Against Leicester, Alese did well to regain his composure after the awful early error and put in an otherwise solid performance.
Alese was not the only voice that rang around the Rush Green pitch, Pierre Ekwah's was also clear for all to hear. The former Chelsea man started in the centre of midfield and was a constant vocal presence throughout the game with the French Under-20 player not afraid of calling his teammates out for errors and missed opportunities.
First-team ready players?
The transition from Under-23 football to the Premier League is ginormous but there were signs of one or two being ready to make the move.
Ashby stepped up when needed in December and played 80 minutes against Spurs in the Carabao Cup quarter-final but otherwise the players that took on Leicester have been kept to a Europa League dead rubber or the odd minute off the bench for the first-team.
One of the four against Leicester who has not made a senior debut is perhaps the closest to getting regular minutes for Moyes' team, Armstrong Okoflex.
The Republic of Ireland youth international would have appeared in Europe for West Ham had he been eligible, but as a non-homegrown player and not being registered in the Europa League A squad he was unable to feature.
With West Ham coming up against Manchester United, Manchester City and Spurs in the Carabao Cup Moyes elected to go with senior players where possible in all three matches leaving Okoflex waiting for his chance. The wide man has been named in six of the last eight Premier League matchday squads without coming off the bench but is closing in on his Hammers debut.
His performance against Leicester was not the best of his season but there were flashes of his ability. One run in particular where he cut in from the left and took on three defenders before eventually being dispossessed was a sign of his attacking intent.
The former Celtic player has 11 goals and one assist in 16 Under-23 matches and is always looking to take on his marker. With Andriy Yarmolenko failing to make an impact on the first XI it would be no surprise if Okoflex soon replaced him as one of Moyes' substitutes when chasing a goal.
Yarmolenko has featured as a substitute on 11 occasions in the league this season without registering a goal or assist in the process. The Ukrainian has two goal involvements in Europe across his five appearances but with his contract running out and his lack of impact his Hammers career is winding down at the exact moment Okoflex's appears to be just beginning.
