Julen Lopetegui can’t persist with Guido Rodriguez at West Ham after Tottenham showing
Julen Lopetegui can’t persist with Guido Rodriguez at West Ham after a damaging performance against Tottenham.
The Hammers suffered a defeat away in North London on Saturday 19 October in yet another blow for the Spanish head coach.
Despite going 1-0 up through Mohammed Kudus early on, Spurs scored four and took all three points away from the London derby.
The clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was proof that Lopetegui needs to make a change in the midfield with Rodriguez.
Julen Lopetegui can’t persist with Guido Rodriguez after West Ham v Tottenham
It has to be said that the Argentina international wasn’t necessarily poor on Saturday (19 October) but his style of play just doesn’t suit everyone around him.
The defensive midfielder completed four tackles and won five duels against Tottenham [FotMob] which certainly isn’t a negative.
The 30-year-old is strong defensively but has a lack of pace which can leave the Hammers exposed when the likes of Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta get forward like they do.
This often leaves the ex-Real Betis man exposed which only hurts the Irons back line and ultimately helps the likes of Spurs to create plenty of chances and score goals.
Lopetegui has to make a decision whether to play someone alongside him or drop him to the bench and utilise a more dynamic midfield.
With options on the bench like Carlos Soler and Edson Alvarez, there is no reason why the ex-Real Madrid boss shouldn’t make that choice.
In other West Ham news, Peter Crouch was left baffled by what Ange Postecoglou did for Tottenham at half time against West Ham.
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