Graham Potter’s dangerous obsession with £20m West Ham man will cost him dearly in the end. West Ham United head coach Graham Potter is surely starting to know his players a lot better now.
Graham Potter has been in charge of West Ham for just over seven weeks now, and he has already made a big impression at the London Stadium. Potter has proven to be head and shoulders above Julen Lopetegui in every single department.
The football implemented by the 49-year-old is like night and day from what Lopetegui served up.
And now it seems like he’s getting the results to back up the improvements in the performances as well. There’s still a lot of work to be done, if the Hammers are to start challenging for the European spots again, but I firmly believe that we’re on the right track under Potter.
However, his Achilles heel seems to be the fact that he continues to place his faith in a player who lets us down pretty much every single time he steps out on the pitch.
Graham Potter has a dangerous obsession with Konstantinos Mavropanos
Konstantinos Mavropanos has played in seven of the eight games that Potter has taken charge of so far. And the only game he missed was through suspension.
Potter praised Mavropanos after just one week in charge of the Hammers. And the big worry for me is that the Hammers head coach hasn’t yet cottoned on to just how destructive the 27-year-old can be.
Mavropanos joined us for £20 million in the summer of 2023 (Evening Standard), but he has never lived up to his reputation.
In 49 Premier League appearances for West Ham, Mavropanos has scored two own goals, and he has made two errors leading to goals for the opposition (Premier League official website).
However, his calamitous performances have cost us much more than that. He has made numerous errors that may have not led directly to goals, but they have proven to be hugely detrimental to our chances of winning games.
Error prone Mavropanos will cost West Ham and Potter dearly
Mavropanos cost us points during our clashes with Brentford and Crystal Palace last season with glaring mistakes, and he hasn’t looked anywhere near the levels required this term.
The Greece international was incredibly poor two weeks ago against Brentford.
The mood inside the London Stadium was killed when Mavropanos was named in the starting XI, and that is a sign of just how much of a liability he has become.
One thing I will say is that Konstantinos Movropanos certainly didn’t deserve the boos he received when he replaced Jean-Clair Todibo during our win over Leicester on Thursday night.
It’s ok to criticise our players but when they’re on the pitch, surely we have to just support them?
The thing about the former Arsenal and Stuttgart defender is that he can never be accused of not trying.
What I will say is that Graham Potter has to quickly realise that Konstantinos Mavropanos is simply not good enough to play for West Ham. If he doesn’t reach that conclusion soon, it could end up costing him dearly.
