Julen Lopetegui strikes me as something of a footballing pragmatist.
I have little doubt that upon accepting the top job at West Ham, Lopetegui would have had an idea of what his starting lineup would look like.
The Spaniard would have presumably identified that two new central defenders were required but possibly would have been happy that the likes of Emerson and Lucas Paquetá would be key components of his team on a week-by-week basis.
I think it’s also fair to assume that Lopetegui had a vision to play newly appointed captain Jarrod Bowen on the right wing while allowing Mohammed Kudus to cause havoc on the opposite side.
Unfortunately for the Hammers’ head coach, his imagined XI and what works best are probably two very different things. . . the best laid plans etc.
Following an average start to his Hammers career, Lopetegui doesn’t have the luxury of time to indulge players who are not performing. He may have to make some ruthless decisions, dropping some players who would have been considered key and guaranteed starters in the past.
I’m quite sure that Aaron Wan-Bissaka wasn’t supposed to look like West Ham’s best left-back this season, but he does. Crysencio Summerville has looked to have more threat than Kudus, while Lucas Paquetá seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders.
However, an unplanned team appears to be evolving at West Ham, which may provide Lopetegui with the best chance of keeping his job. The Irons’ boss’s team selection for the match against Ipswich will prove fascinating, and if big players get dropped, they can have little complaint.
Listen , the players need to step up and play as a team . They are underperforming as a group , yes drop players if they are poor performances but the whole squad is needed. I want to see us get back to grafting , breaking up play and defending and attacking as a team . Come on lads we’re better than this . ⚒
Doesn’t matter who you are if your not performing then you deserve to be dropped,for too long under Moyes it didn’t matter how poor certain players were they always knew they’d be starting.
Good,shake em up a bit,could be the wake up call they all need by being dropped because so far this season the so called top boys and game winners haven’t turned up at all.
Got a lovely chicken masala lined up for me dinner tonight….handsome.
The problems within the side . Could be solved by a semi decent coach . Let alone by a £5m a year one . Either put kudus up top. Or play him alongside pacqueta in a midfield 2 just Infront of Alvarez. With Bowen and summerville drifting into a false 9 position. As Ron greenwood said simplicity is genius.
I see dropping Paqueta because his form has dropped way off even to the point of disinterest, but Kudus works his socks off and on occasions has carried the team both attacking and supporting the defence. I think Lopetegui needs to treat those two differently and make sure he still has Kudus to pick next season. It is true that no player is bigger than the team and Prima Donnas we do not need. As others have mentioned, there are signs of a team forming, we now need some consistency from the coach. We already know there are not a lot of PL standard choices for every position so principals can be compromised.
AWB looks like a very good raiding left back are both things that we were told that he wasn’t. Mavropanos looks like a half decent right back too.
It will fall into place, we’ve hardly seen Fullkrug yet or the best of Soler and Tobido…
Who wishes Paqueta went to Man City back then and we did sign Cole Palmer as was being negotiated before it all stalled.