West Ham United chief Julen Lopetegui absolutely has to bring a stop to one of his failed experiments.
And West Ham United’s win over Manchester United in the Premier League at the London Stadium on Sunday was evidence of exactly why that’s the case.
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Julen Lopetegui needed that win over Man United badly, but he nearly made a rod for his own back with his team selection.
Credit where credit’s due though, the three changes he made at half-time changed the course of the game, and we ended up deserving 2-1 winners.
However, there were some really poor performances out there on Sunday, notably from Carlos Soler and especially the hapless Lucas Paqueta.
In fact, there are a lot of players who are nowhere near the levels that they need to be right now.
That said, the good news is that Lopetegui surely now knows his best team. The other positive is that it’s is undoubtedly now clear to him that he’s been incorrectly using one of our best players.
Julen Lopetegui’s £15m West Ham star experiment has failed
It’s time for the Hammers boss to admit defeat with one of his players.
West Ham signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £15 million from Manchester United in the summer, and he proved during the second-half against his former club what an unbelievably good signing he was for us.
However, it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for the 26-year-old since he swapped Old Trafford for the London Stadium.
As good as Wan-Bissaka undoubtedly is, he hasn’t been used correctly by Lopetegui up until the second-half against Man United.
The former Crystal Palace full-back is arguably the best one v one defender in the entire Premier League.
Yet, Lopetegui has insisted on using him high up the pitch, almost as a right winger at times!
Going forward simply isn’t Wan-Bissaka’s strength. The 26-year-old is an exceptional tackler, has incredible recovery pace and is almost impossible to dribble around.
However, when he finds himself inside the final third, he seems lost at times.
In addition to that, when we have lost the ball in transition, our best defender has been found in no man’s land at the other end of the pitch.
Surely now, Julen Lopetegui realises that he cannot continue with the experiment of using Aaron Wan-Bissaka as an attacking full-back for West Ham, or a wing-back.
Going forward, the South London-born ace has to operate as an orthodox defensive right-back and nothing else. If Lopetegui wanted an attacking, creative right-back, the question must be asked – why did he sign Wan-Bissaka in the first place?
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