West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui was full of praise for one of his players after yesterday’s draw with Fulham.
Julen Lopetegui received plenty of criticism from the West Ham fans throughout the game, but he was rescued in the end by a last-minute Danny Ings equaliser.
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In all fairness, the Hammers were extremely fortunate to pick up a point away at Fulham yesterday. They were the better team in every department, especially during the first-half.
Lopetegui’s starting XI was a baffling one, and he hooked Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio at half-time.
Many people were asking why Lopetegui started the Czech midfielder and the 34-year-old striker in the first place?
The good news is that the Hammers head coach had the guts to mix things up at half-time, and continued to make big changes throughout the second-half.
It was actually a vital point earned by West Ham in the end, when it looked for all the world that we would leave Craven Cottage empty handed.
And Lopetegui was hugely complimentary about one player just after the final whistle.
Julen Lopetegui blown away by one West Ham player
The Spaniard is trying to make big changes at the London Stadium, and as we all know, positive change doesn’t happen overnight.
The key for Lopetegui will be patience from the fans, and the board of course.
Despite lots of bad things, I have seen plenty of positives as well, including the way that we press higher up the pitch as a team and Lopetegui’s in-game management.
Another big difference I’ve noticed is how the fringe players under Lopetegui clearly have the hunger to prove a point – namely Danny Ings.
The 32-year-old earned us a vital point yesterday, and Lopetegui was full of praise for the striker, when speaking to WHUFC.com after the game.
“He (Danny Ings) is always agile in those kinds of actions, and he took his chance very well.“
“I’m really happy for him, because he hasn’t played much up until now, but he is always ready to go. He is a really good example to all of his teammates, and it’s great to see his work pay off.“
“As a player, it can be hard when you don’t know when the coach is going to call you. The important thing is to try and always be ready, because you are going to be needed at some point.“
“Scoring in the last minute today is important, because he’s shown everyone that you have to believe until the end. Even though there were things we could do better today, we kept going and we got something out of the game.“
Danny Ings deserves huge credit
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no fan of Ings as a footballer – certainly not since he’s joined the Hammers.
Before he came on yesterday, he had scored just four goals for the Hammers in 20 months.
Ings was painfully ill-suited to David Moyes’ system at the London Stadium – he has always thrived when playing up front with a partner.
And he proved yesterday just how good he is when he has top-class players operating in and around him.
Danny Ings certainly isn’t the future for West Ham, but he definitely can do a job for us between now and the end of the season.
One thing’s for sure, the West Ham striker sent a big message to Julen Lopetegui yesterday, and it was great to see.
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