The rumoured bust up between West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui and Mohammed Kudus has been in the news all week long.
Mohammed Kudus was hauled off by Julen Lopetegui at half-time during West Ham United’s Premier League clash with Brentford on Saturday.
Following the decision to bring him off, there was said to be a showdown between Kudus and Lopetegui with a heated exchange allegedly having taken place in the Hammers dressing room.
However, the West Ham owners have apparently already contacted Kudus’s representatives in order to explain to them that everything is fine between the player and manager.
We will probably never know what actually went down inside the Hammers dressing room.
That doesn’t mean that journalists won’t be trying to get to the bottom of it.
Who better to ask than one of the two men who were involved in the alleged incident!
Julen Lopetegui responds when asked about Mohammed Kudus
The Spaniard addressed the media this afternoon during his pre-match press conference.
The game on Saturday against Ipswich is hugely important, but the questions being asked were mostly revolved around the incident last weekend.
Lopetegui responded when asked about Kudus, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
He said, “Again, it’s important the team plays well, rather than one or two players. Football is a collective game, and the only way I know how to be able to be strong is to play as a team.“
Now, I find that response from the gaffer very interesting indeed.
And there are a couple of specific reasons for that.
Kudus and Lopetegui continue to hit the headlines
He’s clearly hinting that the team is more important than individual players for a start, and I agree with him there.
Lopetegui also could have put the matter with Kudus to bed by saying nothing happened, or that they’ve put it behind them.
However, he chose to give a vague response instead – one that will only lead to more speculations and further questions.
Despite the claims that the rift has been blown out of all proportion, I believe there is more to this story.
I hope I’m wrong of course, because Julen Lopetegui needs Mohammed Kudus to be firing on all cylinders for West Ham.
Only time will tell I guess, regarding whether they’ve actually put the matter to bed or not.
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