Dean Ashton in complete agreement after what Ally McCoist said about West Ham United
Ally McCoist and Dean Ashton agreed that West Ham United haven’t done enough to strengthen their “disconnected” midfield.
Speaking on talkSPORT (13 October, 7:41am), McCoist identified the Irons’ “one-paced” midfield as the biggest issue facing Julen Lopetegui’s side, acknowledging their forward line as one full of quality.
Ex-Hammers striker Ashton added that he was frightened watching their 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea in September, noting that the best teams have easily found ways to play through Lopetegui’s side.
McCoist said: “In forward areas I think they’ve got some serious quality – I just think in the middle of the park, do they look a bit one-paced?”
Ashton replied: “There’s just a massive gap – they’re so disconnected really from the backline and the forward line. There’s big holes, and top teams will expose it.
“I watched the Chelsea game at home – it was scary to watch how open they were in the middle of the pitch.
“They’ve tried to recruit in that position, but in this day and age, you need players that can properly get around the pitch in that area, and people are just running past the likes of Alvarez and Rodriguez.”
West Ham have created their own problems in midfield
A little over 18 months ago, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek were leading the Irons to glory in the Europa Conference League – a far cry from the current state of the engine room at the London Stadium.
Rice’s high-profile departure to Arsenal is still to be fully reckoned with by the club, with each of their four midfield signings since offering some, but not all, of what the England international did best.
James Ward-Prowse has already been jettisoned at Lopetegui’s request and sent out to Nottingham Forest on loan, but his replacement Carlos Soler has been given very few minutes since his arrival.
Lopetegui’s insistence on selecting Guido Rodriguez, signed for free at his request this summer [Daily Mail, 24 October], is yet to bear any fruit whatsoever, while lynchpin Edson Alvarez’s season has been marred with indiscipline.
Soucek remains a regular starter, albeit without a defined role under Lopetegui, and it remains to be seen if the under-pressure Spaniard can solve the Irons’ midfield conundrum before he’s given the boot.
In other West Ham news, David Ornstein has highlighted a ‘huge’ fixture for Julen Lopetegui as he fights for his future with the Irons.
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