Graham Potter slammed at West Ham as Niclas Fullkrug questions mooted
Graham Potter has continued to come under fire at West Ham as the Niclas Fullkrug situation rumbles on at the London Stadium.
The Germany international wasn’t shy in voicing his frustrations as the Hammers fell to a late draw against already relegated Southampton last week.
This saw the 32-year-old drop to the bench for the trip to face Brighton as the E20 side threw away a 2-1 lead with two late goals to lose 3-2.
It is fair to say that this didn’t go down well with the travelling supporters, with Potter facing criticism again for his treatment of Fullkrug.
Ben Foster rages at Potter for Fullkrug comments
The English head coach has had a very difficult spell since taking over from Julen Lopetegui, who also struggled as manager from the start of the season.
This has come despite a large transfer spend in the summer, which saw the likes of Max Kilman and Luis Guilherme come in for sizable fees.
These deals haven’t worked out, and similar can be said of Fullkrug, who has missed out on large spells due to injury in East London.
That didn’t stop him from voicing his frustration with the poor mindset in the dressing room after the draw with Southampton.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| 26/04/25 | Brighton | 3-2 (L) |
| 19/04/25 | Southampton | 1-1 (D) |
| 13/04/25 | Liverpool | 2-1 (L) |
| 05/04/25 | Bournemouth | 2-2 (D) |
| 01/04/25 | Wolves | 1-0 (L) |
Potter wasn’t necessarily happy with the striker for speaking out, but Foster has been left fuming by the reaction of the head coach on the Football Fill-In (29 April).
He said: “Fullkrug said what he said last week, and Potter came out and said that he should keep those views to himself or behind closed doors.
“Straight away, I don’t like that. At that point, Fullkrug is going to think, ‘You’re happy for the lads to just do this behaviour? Is this what happens at West Ham?'”
Fullkrug gets it spot on at West Ham
The German striker played in a Champions League final last season with Borussia Dortmund and clearly has high standards for himself and his teammates.
It is fair to say that his teammates in the capital could learn from him and take on his advice if they want to get better moving forward.
Besides someone like Jarrod Bowen, there are very few players who can hold their head up high after the season they’ve had at the London Stadium.
As a result, calling out his teammates makes perfect sense for Fullkrug, who should have received the backing of his manager afterwards.
That wasn’t the case, and instead Potter opted to drop him, which was the wrong way to go about things and isn’t a good look for the Irons.