Is there anyone who feels that Konstantinos Mavropanos is genuinely worthy of a starting berth next to Max Kilman? The giant Greek International joined us in 2023for 20 million euros from Stuttgart, having been in Germany for just one season after being sold by Arsenal after they loaned him out to the German side for a season.
He does therefore have a bit of a history of being moved on after a short stay: At West Ham we are finding that he does have a great presence but there are just always mistakes lurking and whilst that may have been acceptable last year, partnering Zouma or Aguerd, I sense the bar has been raised higher this year with the establishment of Kilman as first choice defensive partner.
It isn’t just me who is being critical, Talk Sport Live Tom Rennie on ‘X’ commented yesterday : “Mavrapanos again. Too deep. Doesn’t run back at pace. Doesn’t block the cross. Sorry, but he’s got to go. Nowhere near Premier League quality.”
This after culpability for Man City’s third goal last outing. There are mistakes waiting to happen. Which brings me to the question, if we can see it, surely Lopetegui can? And, importantly, where is his replacement Jean-Clair Todibo?
After the pursuit of Todibo took up so much media interest in the summer window, the superlatives used to describe him when he landed at London Stadium- why is he sitting on the bench?
If West Ham were stringing together a succession of immaculate defensive performances, clean sheets and looking a model of defensive cohesion then there would be a big argument for not changing anything: Hardly the case this season with Mavropanos falling short and looking more error-prone when lining up next to Max Kilman. Part of this is down to the English defender’s growing stature at the back: He has improved and increased in confidence since the early days of pre-season whereas the Greek has not.
So, surely it is time for Todibo to take centre stage and start at centre back? The only reason can be his fitness if he didn’t have a pre season: He did look a bit off the pace in the cameo outing before the break but he’s now had another three weeks to work. The loan to buy agreement means he needs only a small number of ‘starts’ to be confirmed as a Hammers permanent signing so it cannot be that we are trying to manage his appearances: Can we please just get on and use the upgrade we have sitting kicking his heels and work towards creating that cohesive defensive unit, we have the components now and just need to put them all together.