Konstantinos Mavropanos hands West Ham United new headache with international display
West Ham United may not have started the season in red-hot form, but Julen Lopetegui will have been impressed with what he has seen so far.
The Hammers have managed to book their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup and register their first win of the Premier League season, while also holding their own against both Aston Villa and Manchester City.
All of that has been achieved, particularly in the league, with the Spaniard’s preferred centre-back pairing on the pitch after Jean-Clair Todibo’s move from Nice.
Reports suggest that Lopetegui was keen to have the Frenchman alongside Max Kilman this season as he revamped the backline left behind by David Moyes at the London Stadium [Evening Standard, 2 July].
While that may well have been the Hammers boss’ original plan heading into the game against Fulham on Saturday (14 September) Konstantinos Mavropanos may have given him a selection headache with his display for Greece.
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The centre-back started and played the full 90 minutes as Greece ran out 3-0 winners over Finland in the UEFA Nations League and while he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he did impress.
In possession, the 26-year-old barely put a foot out of place as he completed 91 per cent of his 55 attempted passes, four of which managed to find a teammate in the final third of the pitch [Fotmob].
On top of that, no player on either side completed more dribbles than the West Ham man who wasn’t dispossessed with the ball at his feet once.
That quality in possession is something that Mavropanos didn’t demonstrate last year. Throughout last season, he placed in the 12th percentile of Premier League defenders for passes completed per 90 minutes with an average of 28.92 [Fbref].
It wasn’t like the Irons man wasn’t trying to pass the ball either, he was just incredibly inaccurate completing an average of just 75.9 per cent of all his efforts in the league last term.
Without the ball, Mavropanos was just as impressive against Finland as he won 100 per cent of his attempted tackles, completed three interceptions and even made seven ball recoveries.
Last season, there were few tacklers as reliable as the West Ham star who managed to dispossess 81 per cent of players who looked to dribble around him, a figure which puts him in the top four per cent of his peers in the Premier League.
To top it off, the 26-year-old managed to clear an effort off of the line to maintain Greece’s clean sheet and keep the Finnish attack at bay for the full 90 minutes.
When it came to duels, the defender won all but two of his battles on the ground and was only beaten once in the air as he put his big frame to use as the last line of defence.
Last season, Mavropanos only managed to win an average of 65.7 per cent of his aerial battles and it would have pleasantly surprised Lopetegui to see his defender put in such a commanding display.
Konstantinos Mavropanos hands Julen Lopetegui London Stadium headache
Although Lopetegui would have been planning to start Todibo alongside Kilman especially since the pair have had two weeks to train together over the International break, Mavropanos’ display may have put a spanner in the works.
Todibo didn’t look particularly sharp or match fit in the Carabao Cup clash with Bournemouth as he only won 25 per cent of his duels so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mavropanos feature instead.
In other West Ham news, Jonathan David has dropped a new Lille exit hint having been linked with a move to the London Stadium
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