£15m West Ham man’s awful display vs Manchester City proves Julen Lopetegui made big summer transfer error. One West Ham United player’s woeful performance against Manchester City today highlighted one big transfer mistake by Julen Lopetegui in the summer window.
Manchester City were in imperious form today, and whilst West Ham showed exciting signs of what Julen Lopetegui is trying to implement, too many of our players had off days.
The Premier League is unforgiving, and if you’re not at it, you will be shown up. Lopetegui enjoyed a fabulous transfer window, and brought in numerous top-class players who will undoubtedly improve us over time. Whilst the Spaniard hit the jackpot with most of his summer signings, one West Ham player proved today that the gaffer made one big error.
And Lopetegui may well now be regretting one decision he made. West Ham man’s awful display vs Manchester City highlights Lopetegui error.
Listen, Man City can rip apart any team in the world, on any given day.
So sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit that they’re just too good. However, one West Ham player’s display today certainly didn’t help matters. Emerson Palmieri was dreadful during our clash with Man City, especially during the first-half.
Firstly, he played a truly awful ball into Lucas Paqueta inside the first 11 minutes. As a result, the Brazilian lost the ball to Bernardo Silva who then played in Erling Haaland to slot home.
The Italian then gave the ball away two more times with sloppy passes inside the first-half, and he was way too complacent in possession against the best team in the world.
To top of his horror first-half performance against Man City, Emerson gave Haaland way too much time and space inside our 18-yard box before the Norwegian thundered a shot into the roof of our net.
Here’s the thing, I like Emerson a lot, and he has so much to offer the Hammers down the left hand flank. However, the 30-year-old’s performance today highlighted a big error from Lopetegui…
Emerson display leaves Lopetegui nowhere to hide. The Hammers head coach has improved the squad at the London Stadium beyond all comprehension. He brought some magnificent players to the club, whilst getting rid of some of the deadwood as well.
However, he clearly had one very big blindspot.
The Spaniard should have signed a top-class left-back in the summer to really push Emerson Palmieri this season, there’s no question in my mind about that.
The only competition the Italy international has is Aaron Cresswell – a player who we should have moved on two years ago. There is a real danger that the former Chelsea man will become far too comfortable and complacent that his place in the team is not under threat.
This is something that Lopetegui absolutely must address in January, or next summer at the very latest. Emerson’s performance for West Ham against Manchester City today proves that.
