Things looked very promising for West Ham and David Moyes a couple of months ago.
That was before a season ending injury to Angelo Ogbonna and another serious problem with Kurt Zouma.
No sooner was the latter back in the side than a nasty video of him abusing his cat was widely circulated on social media, giving Moyes and West Ham a headache they could do without.
A transfer window that couldn’t have gone any worse, despite the Scot’s protestations that he wasn’t buying for the sake of it – the same excuse he used incidentally a year ago – has brought the Hammers lack of strength in depth into even sharper focus.
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If there were to be any more injury problems that would befall the East Londoners, the likelihood is that their European challenge could be all but over.
Now that exact scenario appears to have come to pass.
According to This Is Futbol, quoting Ex West Ham Employee when speaking on the West Ham Way podcast, Arthur Masuaku might not make it back into first-team contention this season.
Although he isn’t necessarily first choice at left-back, the fact is that Moyes is going to need his entire squad for the final games of the 2021/22 season.
If the Hammers manage to get into Europe on the back of the latest setback, then Moyes has to be given another shot at the manager of the year award that he, somewhat unjustly, missed out on last season.