West Ham United head coach Graham Potter has a serious amount of work to do, that much is clear to see.
Graham Potter named a much stronger starting XI for the West Ham vs Brentford clash at the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Jarrod Bowen spoke to reporters on Friday, and suggested that he’s a huge fan of Potter’s footballing philosophy and training methods.
However, we really do need to see some consistent results now.
It’s all well and good seeing improvements in our performances, not that there was evidence of that today mind, but no manager can survive without positive results.
West Ham went behind after just four minutes against the Bees, after Kevin Schade put the visitors ahead.
And it was very much an uphill battle from there.
The performance from the Hammers against Brentford was a really poor one. The players lacked any kind of intensity or aggression, especially inside the first-half, and the Bees were far too good for us.
However, things could have been so different had Potter not killed the buzz prior to kick-off.
Graham Potter killed the mood by sinking West Ham fans’ spirits
The Hammers head coach has to learn quickly that he needs to get the fans onside, regardless of his tactics and footballing philosphy.
Now, that can come with a run of wins, or by picking a team that just made sense.
On the whole, his team selection wasn’t a bad one today, but one name stood out, and it seriously killed the mood amongst the West Ham fans before the game had even started.
Konstantinos Mavropanos started the match for the Hammers, despite his appalling form for us this season.
His presence in the team created a nervous atmosphere around the London Stadium, because we all know how error-prone he is.
Including him in the starting XI was a bizarre decision by Potter.
And he has to learn quickly that placing too much trust in certain players will be extremely costly for him in the long run.
Graham Potter must sell Konstantinos Mavropanos in the summer
The Greek defender has let us down numerous times this season.
I’m not saying that he was particularly at fault for Brentford’s opener, but his sheer presence in the middle of the Hammers’ defence makes us look instantly more vulnerable.
Mavropanos has awful positional awareness, and that means he’s always caught chasing his opponents, which then leads to rash challenges.
The 27-year-old was very good in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart, but he’s nowhere near the levels required to be playing regular Premier League football.
Graham Potter has to realise this quickly, before the Greece international ruin’s the 49-year-old’s chances of succeeding at West Ham.
I do not want to see Mavropanos start another game of any importance for the Hammers.
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