To say that the 2018/2019 season was a frustrating one for West Ham United centre-back Winston Reid would be the understatement of the century.
For the first time since joining the club ahead of the 2010/2011 campaign, the New Zealand international captain was unable to play a single minute of senior football for any team in any competition.
When the 31-year-old suffered a freak knee injury towards the back end of the term before last, it was far from the first time he had endured a serious knock in east London.
He’d come back before, from ten other injuries in Claret & Blue, and still reached the same high level of performance and given this fact, could surely do it again.
However, the seriousness of this particular knee blow, keeping him out of action for well over a year, and his age are hard barriers to overcome and the odds are stacked against Reid ever becoming a first-team regular at West Ham again.
But if he continues with the same work ethic that has allowed him to overcome various barriers throughout his career, he can once again pick up where he left off – the veteran could complete a surprise U-turn next season.
As mentioned above, age isn’t on Reid’s side but he is lucky in the sense that players in his position tend to have a longer shelf life, with less running to do than their more advanced counterparts.
What’s happened in central defence for the Hammers whilst the Kiwi has been sidelined is also hardly ideal for him.
Instead of the team struggling in his absence, what appears to be the new long-term centre-half partnership at London Stadium has emerged between Manuel Pellegrini signings Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop.
Although, the fact that neither were able to stay in the starting Xl for the whole campaign and their understudy Angelo Ogbonna still managed to make 24 Premier League appearances, offers hope to Reid.
Balbuena was missing with his own knee problem from just before Christmas until early March while Diop lost his place in the first team to Ogbonna for a period in the spring.
One would feel that, if fully fit, such is the quality of Reid that he would slot in higher in the pecking order than the Italian and therefore be able to put direct pressure on Balbuena and Diop.
If he can do this then it would only be a matter of time before he’s given at least one chance to prove his worth to Pellegrini in the Premier League – and this could well be all Reid, contracted until 2023, needs to reclaim one of the two centre-half jerseys.
