West Ham United defeated Burnley on Sunday but their manager should have showed more faith in the club’s young prospects.
West Ham United have some of the most talented teenagers in the country, but neutrals would not know that based solely on Hammers manager Slaven Bilic’s team selections this season.
Time and again the Croatian has opted to pick under-performing stars and even on Sunday, when he had the ideal opportunity to blood some of the club’s next generation, he was not brave enough with his starting XI.
The match against Burnley was a dead rubber, and while West Ham fans always want to see their side winning, it would have been far more beneficial to give Declan Rice and Ashley Fletcher more than a few brief minutes.
And what of 17-year-old Domingos Quina, who time and again has sat unused on the bench but who, on Sunday, could have played a major role if his manager had opted for it?
Reece Oxford proved two years ago that if you are good enough you are old enough, and despite his master-class as a 16-year-old away to Arsenal he has rarely been seen since.
Then there is Toni Martinez, Nathan Holland, Martin Samuelsen and plenty of others, all desperate for chances but forced to watch while the likes of Robert Snodgrass, Mark Noble and Jose Fonte fail to justify their inclusion nor their weekly wage.
On Sunday, Bilic should have started Rice, Fletcher and Quina, trusting in them and reaping the rewards.
As Jose Mourinho’s makeshift Manchester United side proved against Crystal Palace, whatever the reason for starting, doing so can ensure some outstanding performances.
It is only a shame for West Ham’s blossoming youth prospects that, for now at least, their manager is not willing to put his faith in them wholeheartedly.
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