Konstantinos Mavropanos was a rock at the back for West Ham United during their win over Tottenham on Saturday.
Mavropanos, alongside defensive partner Jean-Clair Todibo, was one of the standout performers as West Ham recorded a huge win in the context of the Premier League’s relegation battle.
It was, in fact, a slight surprise to see him play at all.
If you could only keep ONE of these two players in January – who would it be?!
Less than a week before the short trip to north London, the 28-year-old was stretchered off against QPR in the FA Cup.
Concern was raised when Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed that Mavropanos had suffered a neck injury and he was therefore a doubt for Saturday’s game.
However, the Greek international recovered in time to feature and that was a huge boost for West Ham.
Konstantinos Mavropanos opens up on injury scare
The former Arsenal youngster was interviewed by West Ham’s official YouTube channel after the game.
The subject of his injury was put to him. The interviewer admitted he did not expect to see the defender feature so soon after he was taken off on a stretcher at the London Stadium.
Mavropanos admitted he was scared after suffering a neck injury but has now shrugged that off.
“After the last game, I was scared,” he said.
How would you rate Jean-Clair Todibo’s performance for West Ham vs Tottenham out of 10?
In my mind, that’s his best game yet?!
“But everything was fine, the medical staff helped me a lot and it was nothing serious at the end. But, yeah, today I think everyone worked really hard for the team. The effort was incredible.”
West Ham will be thankful that he did.
West Ham need Konstantinos Mavropanos at his very best
Mavropanos impressed in West Ham’s win over Tottenham but it cannot stop there.
With Max Kilman seemingly out of the picture, the Greek and Todibo need to step up unless a new signing is made.
The fact that West Ham have kept only one clean sheet all season should embarrass the defensive unit.
Clearly, it’s a team effort, but these are generally all international defenders. It simply hasn’t been good enough.
At least Mavropanos and Todibo both showed there’s something to work with by stepping up to the plate against Spurs.
Hopefully, that is set to continue.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
