Tim Steidten has been left embarrassed after a new revelation about Max Kilman at West Ham which suggests the club made the right call.
West Ham sent Tim Steidten packing ahead of the January window.
Majority owner David Sullivan demoted the German technical director after sharing the fury of fans over the way he spent £155m in the summer window.
A sizeable chunk of that budget – £87m to be precise – was committed to fixing the worst defence in West Ham’s Premier League history.
The Hammers shipped a club record 74 league goals last season.
So West Ham parted with Nayef Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Ben Johnson, Angelo Ogbonna and – on a permanent basis after he was loaned out the January before – Thilo Kehrer.
In came Max Kilman for £40m from Wolves, Jean-Clair Todibo for £32m from Nice – after his five-start obligation clause was met – and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £15m from Man United.
On paper that looked to be among the best business ever done by the Irons.
Yet failure to improve the midfield has left that defence exposed while it tried to find its feet under the disastrous Julen Lopetegui.
Steidten looks foolish after £40m West Ham signing revelation
Astonishingly, West Ham are on course to equal that dismal record, shipping 1.9 goals per game – the same average they ended last term with.
Strangely, though, West Ham fans would agree two of their best players this season have been Kilman and Wan-Bissaka.
Not that a certain technical director who has been sent packing felt that way.
Steidten has been made to look foolish after a new Kilman revelation at West Ham.
West Ham were accused of overpaying for Kilman when they signed him from Wolves.
It has since been claimed that Steidten was among those who felt £40m was too much for what became the most expensive defender signing in West Ham’s history.
The Athletic claimed Steidten told Sullivan West Ham were paying too much for Kilman and advised against it.
Now it has emerged Kilman is the best central defender in the entire Premier League bar none when it comes to one-on-ones.
Steidten a poor judge as Kilman proves his worth at West Ham
No outfield player with 1,500 plus minutes under their belt has been dribbled past fewer times in the Premier League this season than Kilman.
The Hammer of the Year contender has only been dribbled past on four occasions in 24 matches.
Kilman has no equal in that regard.
It comes after Kilman also rated better than Arsenal’s Rolls Royce of a defender William Saliba in five out of nine key areas earlier this season.
At the end of the day signing the captain from a Premier League rival in their peak years is always going to be expensive.
And it must be remembered the “English tax” which is added.
Kilman is already showing signs he is improving even further under Graham Potter.
So it seems West Ham made the right decision on Steidten as he clearly isn’t the greatest judge of a deal.
Kilman arguably had one of his best games yet for West Ham in the recent 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.
He was imperious in that match.
West Ham fans are very excited at the prospect of Kilman finally getting a run of games alongside Todibo under the new manager.
Potter’s style of play and approach suits Kilman down to the ground and the same should be true for the Frenchman, who is also adept at carrying the ball out from the back.
West Ham may not have much to play for over the next three months.
But getting the defence settled and seeing what they can do in the new system could be the key to being competitive again next term.
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