David Moyes has outlined a plan to increase Maxwel Cornet’s game time in the remaining matches of the season at West Ham, informs the football.london.
Despite joining the Hammers from Burnley last summer, the Ivorian winger has made just 12 Premier League appearances and started only one of them. This has been in part due to a calf injury that kept him out of action for four months. Since his return in March, Cornet has mostly been used as a substitute.
Moyes told football.london: “He was out for five months. If he hadn’t been out injured, we were short at that time through January, we were short.
“Maxi was out, we didn’t know when he was coming back. We’ve gone into the transfer market, we’ve bought Danny [Ings], we had Gianluca [Scamacca] out so we needed the extra cover, it’s a bit more difficult. There’s more competition, there’s people in for his place.
“He needs to be patient and wait on his opportunity to come around.I have to say, he’s tended to get his chance in a lot of the games he has come on, so he might need to only take small minutes at the moment, because there’s not a huge opening for him at the moment. We’ve got people playing well and we want to try and keep that going.”
Maxwel Cornet has been utilized in multiple positions during his time at West Ham, featuring on both flanks and even as an attacking midfielder. Despite this, David Moyes believes that Cornet’s best position is somewhere else. According to Moyes, Cornet’s optimal position is playing alongside another striker, which is where he could be most effective. Although he can also operate down the left flank, Moyes has observed that Cornet is often around the goal when he comes on as a substitute.