Graham Potter amplifies Tim Steidten failures at West Ham already
Tim Steidten’s failures at West Ham were summed up against Aston Villa when Vladimir Coufal was a chosen substitute for Graham Potter.
West Ham bowed out of the FA Cup in Potter’s first game in charge in controversial fashion on 10 January, but it was the substitutions that begged the biggest concern.
Injuries sustained by striker Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville forced the Irons into unplanned substitutions and the decisions made by Potter summed up the failures of Steidten in the 2-1 defeat.
Fullkrug was replaced by Danny Ings, who has notched just once this season while Summerville was withdrawn for Coufal, despite Luis Guilherme, a £25million signing being on the bench.
Potter’s decision in terms of the latter and options for the former showcase the mess left from a recruitment perspective that until Steidten is dismissed, will continue.
Steidten must be next out the door at West Ham
While you can certainly push much of the blame on Julen Loeptegui for the dismal season to date, the Spaniard was ultimately forced to work with a completely unbalanced squad lacking any form of competitive depth.
The lack of a goalscorer has been a concern at the London Stadium for several seasons now and is still yet to be addressed while the Irons spent a significant amount of money on Guilherme only for him to seemingly be deemed surplus to requirements.
If Potter is to have the full impact he is capable of, recruitment has to improve massively and there are very few indications that Steidten is the man to lead that pursuit.
Potter’s successes at Brighton were aided massively by Dan Ashworth who used his expansive scouting knowledge to good effect which not only helped the Seagulls on the pitch but also benefitted them massively off of it with future sales, many of which saw huge profit margins.
Given the current circumstances of West Ham, it feels like a similar task is on hand and as it stands, questions will emerge as to whether Steidten has the credentials to play a part in it.
In other West Ham news, the Irons want to sign this frontman who has scored 81 goals in the top flight of his country.
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