Henry Winter wants West Ham to sign midfielder as he blasts Julen Lopetegui
Henry Winter believes West Ham have “issues” within their midfield ranks that need to be rectified.
The Hammers’ midfield ranks were bolstered in the summer with the arrival of Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler but rumours have already been linking the former with a move away.
Winter has been disappointed by what he has seen from the Hammers’ engine room and, speaking live on talkSPORT (24 November, 10:55am), Winter also questioned whether Lopetegui can inspire his team.
“I just don’t get him,” he said. “I mean I just don’t see how he fits in with the West Ham way.
“I don’t see necessarily how if you’re looking for a transformation and a different way of playing and a new era and a refreshing and rejuvenating post-David Moyes who I thought did a fantastic, fantastic job but West Ham want to play a certain way, well what’s Lopetegui done?
“There’s obvious issues recruitment-wise that they have to address, there’s a lack of pace and mobility in central midfield, there are issues there and I get all that but I just don’t see how he inspires them.”
West Ham need to improve their midfield ranks in the January transfer window
As has been the case for most of the season, West Ham have struggled with their midfield keeping up with their opponents and putting up a decent battle in the centre of the park.
Rodriguez is obviously a World Cup winner and has bags of talent within him but his lack of pace and mobility make it hard for him to be a top-level Premier League player.
The same goes for both Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez because, while they may have talent on the ball, when they’re looking to track back and make up ground, they’ve often been left in the dust.
Plenty of money was spent by Tim Stiedten and Lopetegui in the summer but at the moment, it doesn’t feel like much, if any progress has been made since David Moyes was in charge.
The Spaniard’s job has been under constant scrutiny since the start of the term and if he loses one or both of his next games, it’s hard to see how there could be a future for the former Real Madrid boss at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, a fresh twist has emerged in the race for the Hammers’ hot seat.
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