LIVE: Julen Lopetegui hint” at West Ham injury huddles” during training session – ‘We’ve had a little problem….
Following a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa at the London Stadium last Saturday, Julen Lopetegui suffered his first setback as West Ham’s head coach.
Though the Hammers have already added eight new players, the manager has been vocal about the necessity for even more acquisitions recently. But getting rid of some of the deadwood before the summer transfer market closes will be his top objective. Apart from all of that, it will be crucial for Lopetegui to acclimate his existing squad to his philosophy and system of play.
There were some positives signs during our defeat to Villa, but big improvements will be required, if we are to get a positive result against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
That said, it seems like we could have a big problem heading into the Eagles clash.
Julen Lopetegui opens up on West Ham injury scare
The Hammers desperately need a result on Saturday, in spite of the fact that it’s only our second game of the season.
It’s clear that Lopetegui is overseeing a big shift from how David Moyes operated at the London Stadium, both on and off the pitch.
It will be a long and hard journey, but as long as there are positive signs along the way, we all need to give the Spaniard our full support.
Next stop on the journey is Selhurst Park, but Lopetegui has shared some concerning news ahead of the game.
The 57-year-old lifted the lid on a potential injury problem for the Hammers, when speaking to WHUFC.com.
He said, “We’ve had a little problem in the training session, but we have to wait and see what happens.“
Well that’s worrying isn’t it.
Let’s just hope that the injury concern isn’t regarding one of our indispensable players like Mohammed Kudus or Jarrod Bowen.
I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that one of our key new signings like Jean-Clair Todibo or Aaron Wan-Bissaka haven’t picked up an injury.
We will find out for sure when the teams are released at 1:45pm on Saturday afternoon.
Let’s hope it’s nothing serious, but the West Ham injury update from Julen Lopetegui certainly sounded concerning.
Centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos only joined West Ham United from Stuttgart this time last year.
Konstantinos Mavropanos has been very much hit and miss since he moved to the London Stadium from the Bundesliga in the summer of 2023
Sometimes the West Ham defender seems like the dominant centre-back we all know he can be, and then he looks utterly hopeless in the next game.
West Ham paid £17 million to bring Konstantinos Mavropanos to the club from Stuttgart last year, but Julen Lopetegui has since signed two elite central defenders in the form of Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo.
It emerged a few days ago that the Hammers manager is actually open to selling Mavropanos this summer.
And now a further update has been provided on the centre-back’s future at the London Stadium.
New Konstantinos Mavropanos West Ham exit claim
It was only yesterday when it was claimed that the towering Greek defender could be sold back to Stuttgart before next week’s transfer deadline.
However, it appears as though there has been a twist to proceedings.
According to German football journalist Florian Plettenberg, the Mavropanos exit rumours are wide of the mark.
In fact, it is suggested that he has no intention of leaving the London Stadium, and wants to remain with the Hammers.
That’s all well and good, but he’ll undoubtedly be the third-choice centre-back this season under Lopetegui.
If he’s happy with that then fine, but I just feel like a move away from the club would still make more sense for him.
One thing’s for sure, Lopetegui could definitely bring in a better centre-back than ‘Dinos’ during the remaining eight days of the summer transfer window.
The 26-year-old does have some strong parts of his game, but he possesses an awful lot of weaknesses as well…
Mavropanos exit could still happen
Despite Plettenberg’s latest update on the situation, I still see a scenario whereby the Greece international leaving the club would make sense.
Let’s face it, the 26-year-old is not the player we all expected him to be, despite the odd glimpse of his quality.
I’m sure the Hammers could do a lot better than the former Arsenal and Stuttgart defender – someone like Trevoh Chalobah or Nathan Zeze perhaps.
West Ham could make some decent money by selling Konstantinos Mavropanos as well, and moving him on would get his £80k-a-week wages (Salary Sport) off the books too.
He’s a decent player, but isn’t at the required standard that we need anymore in my opinion. His appalling errors against Crystal Palace and Brentford last season should be enough for everyone to realise that.
However, as things stand, it seems like he’s very much set to remain at the london Stadium. Let’s wait and see how this one pans out.
