One West Ham United player in particular has received criticism from Tony Cottee.
West Ham lost to Tottenham 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, and Tony Cottee has delivered his verdict on the current state of his former club.
Julen Lopetegui is really feeling the heat right now, and rightly so – the Hammers have been terrible this season.
Tony Cottee has already been highly critical of Lopetegui, and indeed the West Ham board.
Cottee has become more and more outspoken over the past year or so, and the Hammers owners felt his wrath last season on numerous occasions.
Now he has openly highlighted how one Hammer in particular is not filling him with confidence whatsoever.
Tony Cottee admits he’s not a fan of £7.5m West Ham star
Cottee is a Hammers legend.
He bagged 146 goals in all competitions for West Ham, and is our fifth highest goalscorer of all-time.
When he speaks, we should all listen.
Cottee admitted that he is no fan of Alphonse Areola, when speaking to talkSPORT (Monday October 21st, 8:51am).
The former Hammer explained how the Frenchman doesn’t fill him with confidence.
He said, “I must admit at the moment the goalkeeper doesn’t fill me with any confidence. He is a good shot-stopper, but his distribution, his command of the penalty area, I think there seems to be a lot of hesitancy in front of him.”
I have to say, I couldn’t agree more with Cottee here.
Areola has been in really poor this season, and his lack of ability with the ball at his feet has really stood out like a sore thumb.
West Ham paid €9 million (£7.5 million) to bring Areola to the London Stadium from PSG on a permanent deal back in the summer of 2022 (Claret and Hugh), after spent the previous campaign with us on loan.
At the time, it seemed like the Hammers had struck gold with the deal to bring the 31-year-old to the club.
I think it’s actually very simple, if Lopetegui really wants his team to play out from the back, he needs a to sign a new goalkeeper.
Tony Cottee is clearly not a fan of West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, and going by his form this season, I’m not either if I’m being honest.
He’s a great shot-stopper, but nothing more.
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