Julen Lopetegui given West Ham United headache after what Mavropanos did v England
West Ham United have had a rather abysmal season thus far with the club currently sitting 12th in the Premier League, five points away from the drop zone.
The Hammers’ summer window was arguably one of the most talked about in the top flight with Julen Lopetegui having a clear plan in mind as to what positions he wanted to bolster.
However, as they only have two Premier League wins to their name this season, it’s evident that things haven’t quite worked out as they’d have wanted them to.
Jean Clair-Todibo and Max Kilman were among the players that were brought in over the summer and the pair have formed quite a solid partnership.
However, Konstantinos Mavropanos’ most recent performance for Greece in their 2-1 Nations League away win over England, may have given the Spaniard a bit of a selection headache.
West Ham United have a choice to make between Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean Clair-Todibo
Kilman’s role in the side is arguably the safest of all West Ham’s players. The centre-back has shored up the Hammers’ defensive ranks tenfold and is unlikely to be dropped by Lopetegui any time soon.
This leaves just one spare centre-back spot available and with two top-notch defenders to pick from, Mavropanos’ recent performance won’t have helped Lopetegui’s dilemma much.
As per Sofascore, the Greek international managed to win 100 per cent of his ground duels and amassed a success rate of 66 per cent in terms of aerial duels.
He did manage to lose possession of the ball four times throughout the clash but he was the main centre-back that the Three Lions seemed to target.
Defensively, Mavropanos’ form was also stellar. He managed to make four clearances, one interception and made a total of two tackles.
His performance managed to keep the likes of Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden from scoring and gave Greece the upper hand in the game.
He played the full 90 minutes and even managed to end the clash with a pass accuracy of 88 per cent which is a decent return, especially for a team that were regarded as underdogs.
His display left Lee Dixon gushing and ita clear to see why the pundit hailed him as a “world beater”.
Although a solid display is what a team would usually want, Lopetegui may have been given an even harder decision to make when it comes to West Ham’s next clash against Tottenham on 19 October.
In other West Ham news, Brazilian media have reacted to the international performance of Lucas Paqueta.
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