Graham Potter was officially announced as the new West Ham United manager on Thursday morning, replacing Julen Lopetegui at the helm.
Julen Lopetegui was sacked by West Ham on Wednesday, and Graham Potter immediately travelled down to London to sign his contract and conduct media duties.
West Ham had to pay Lopetegui £3.3 million in compensation in order to sack him, but I am totally convinced that will be money well spent in the end.
Potter deploys a highly intense brand of possession-based, free-flowing football.
The Hammers fans who have the patience to stick by him through the next six months or so will be in for a real treat when his footballing philosophy begins to take shape next season.
Potter definitely has a lot of problems he has to address at the London Stadium though.
The 2024/25 season has been disastrous for the Hammers so far.
And Potter’s challenge now will be to succeed where Lopetegui failed in numerous different areas.
Graham Potter spots mistake Julen Lopetegui was making
The former Chelsea boss is undoubtedly going to bring a more attractive playing style with him to the London Stadium.
The football under Lopetegui, and David Moyes before him, was painful to watch at times.
However, it’s not the Spaniard’s footballing philosophy that was his main issue during his time in East London.
There are a lot of factors that determine whether or not managers succeed at certain clubs.
And Lopetegui failed to read the room with a really key one.
Potter sat down to speak with WHUFC.com after being officially unveiled as the new West Ham manager.
And the 49-year-old highlighted a big mistake that Lopetegui made during his Hammers tenure, without even realising it.
The new Hammers head coach said, “As an away manager [managing against West Ham], the fans here have always been incredibly supportive [of their team], and I’m looking forward to meeting them as well.“
“Something that’s always struck me about West Ham is that it’s a passionate, ambitious Club, with loyal supporters and a family feel, as well. I’ve always thought that. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everybody, and to being part of the family.“
Potter went on to say, “I’ve had some wonderful experiences with different clubs, and it’s about connecting the team with the supporters. I think if you’ve got that connection, and you’ve got that trust, you can achieve amazing things.“
“We have to really try to build a team that the supporters can be proud of, that they can recognise, and that really represents the values and quality of this Club.“
“I think if you ask most supporters, they would say they want to be entertained, and I think that’s the case at West Ham with all the Club’s history and tradition. With all of that, and with my experiences, that’s something we’ll be looking to do.“
“Enjoyment is important, and I think if the players are enjoying themselves, that can help transmit enjoyment to the terraces.“
Potter has clearly learnt from the mistakes Lopetegui made during his tenure at the London Stadium.
Potter learns from Lopetegui errors
The Spaniard failed to build any kind of connection with the supporters, and his lack of interest in doing so was clearly evident to me during his first few weeks in charge of the club.
Lopetegui had zero personality or charisma when speaking to the press.
He spoke very much robotically without any kind of passion, and that lack of enthusiasm rubbed off on his players, I’m convinced of it.
In the end, the Hammers fans became tired of hearing the same message from Lopetegui week in, week out.
Judging by the comments from Graham Potter, he will not make the same mistakes that Julen Lopetegui did at West Ham.
Developing a positive relationship with the Hammers fans will be pivotal to Potter’s hopes of of achieving success at the London Stadium.
And I was really impressed by his first interview as the West Ham manager.
Exciting times undoubtedly lie ahead for the Hammers.
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