Crysencio Summerville’s first appearance in almost eight months may have only lasted 17 minutes, but it immediately provided a snapshot into what West Ham United have been missing, as he delivered a stunning, game-changing performance off the bench.
Having been unable to breach the Nottingham Forest defence and with the Premier League game in the balance at 0-0, Head Coach Graham Potter elected to take the opportunity to reintegrate the exciting Dutch winger back into the Hammers’ lineup, and his impact at the City Ground was immediate.
Summerville was introduced on 82 minutes, replacing impressive debutant Mateus Fernandes, and he teed up Jarrod Bowen’s opener on the counter after 84 minutes and set West Ham on the way to a 3-0 victory. Two minutes later he showed some brilliant trickery to dupe Ibrahim Sangaré into giving away a penalty, and Lucas Paquetá rolled it home with steely confidence.
Another substitute who made an impact from the bench and managed to get off the mark in Claret and Blue at the City Ground was Callum Wilson, who rounded off our first win of the Premier League campaign in the first minute of added-time.
And Summerville, who told us during the pre-season visit to the Black Forest of southern Germany, ‘When I'm back, it's going to be showtime,’ certainly lived up to his words and was happy to be able to help the team on his return.
“I'm very happy and grateful to be back with the boys, grateful to play again because this is my longest injury, so I was just happy to help the team the weekend before last and to get the three points,” Summerville beamed, speaking at Rush Green this week.
“When a coach brings you on in a situation like that, I think everyone expects me and other players who come on to give the team some more spirit and more belief, and I'm an electric player that brings energy, so I'm happy it went the way it did.
“I'd been on the sidelines for almost eight months, so I was one of them (the fans), but now I'm back, and I was happy to help the team and to see the fans celebrate our three goals. It was special, and it was just a relief for everyone.
“I think the fans have been waiting for this. Obviously when I came here I said to them as well what they could expect from me, but because I was out for so long I think it feels like a new signing to them, so they were excited, and I was excited too.
“His (Graham Potter’s) message to me was defensively to just be compact with the team and move with the ball, and in attack he just said, ‘Be free, be creative and do your thing.’
“The fans didn't see a lot of me last season because I got injured, but I feel like I’ve got so much to offer, so much to bring to the team, and I'm very happy to be back now and to show my ability to the team, to the fans and to the world. I'm not done here yet, so they will see a lot this season, hopefully.
“This is just the beginning, but I already said it: when I'm back, and I'm back now, it's going to be showtime every week.”
It was in January that he sustained a hamstring injury in Potter's first game in charge, a 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup against Aston Villa. The 23-year-old's road to recovery would be a long one.
He was in Rush Green throughout the summer to undertake his rehabilitation programme, where countless hours of unseen work took place in the gym and with the Club's medical staff.
Now fully fit, Summerville hopes to contribute more minutes when we welcome Tottenham Hotspur to London Stadium on Saturday, and is eyeing a positive result that could fire us up the Premier League ranks.
Summerville continued: “I think the last eight months have been about motivating myself every day.
“It's challenging, but I have the right people in my environment, and they help me a lot, and I'm happy with my own mindset as well because I can guarantee you that some people would give up, but I tried to motivate myself every day to be the best version of myself and to be back as quick as possible.
“I’ve enjoyed being part of the squad again over the last couple of weeks and trained with a couple of the new players already, so I can't wait to play with them more in the games and to achieve great things with them.
“The victory [at Nottingham Forest] was very important, and I hope we can build some momentum from this. I hope this is a really good start for us and it can kickstart our season.
“For me it's important to get some minutes. I see every game now as a final, and I’m just very grateful and happy to be back. I hope I can stay fit, and then I can guarantee you it's going to be a great season for me with loads of goals and assists.
“Everyone knows I'm a big game player, so I love to play against all the big teams, and I think everyone is looking forward to the Tottenham Hotspur game.
“We are sharp, we are ready, and we can't wait.”
