When Julen Lopetegui becomes the new West Ham United manager, there will undoubtedly be big changes amongst the playing staff at the London Stadium.
Julen Lopetegui is on the verge of being named as the new West Ham manager, in place of the outgoing David Moyes.
Whilst many Hammers fans believe that the 57-year-old isn’t the right man for the job, myself included, many pundits do.
Guillem Balague explained how Lopetegui is determined to prove that he’s one of the very best European managers and that he’s ready to take West Ham to the next level.
We first reported back on Friday May 3rd that Lopetegui was all set to become the new Hammers boss.
Then, Hammers News told you David Sullivan had chosen Lopetegui, having been ‘won over’ by the ex Wolves boss in talks.
And now that has been confirmed by the likes of Fabrizio Romano.
The important thing will be to back the former Sevilla, Wolves, Porto and Real Madrid manager. Whenever he gets officially named as the new boss, we all need to get behind him.
He has a lot of work to do in the transfer market, with a big rebuild needed at the London Stadium.
In my view, the first thing he’ll do when he turns up at the club is move Tomas Soucek on.
But why?
Lopetegui will sell Soucek when named new West Ham manager
With the Spaniard set to be handed the reins at the London Stadium imminently, Soucek will surely be fearing for his future.
Throughout his career in football management, Lopetegui has always favoured technically gifted players in central midfield.
When Sevilla won the Europa League in 2020, the 57-year-old had Fernando, Ever Banega and Joan Jordan making up his central midfield three – all players who are extremely comfortable in possession.
Then at Wolves, the Spaniard often operated with Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes and Ruben Neves in midfield.
It goes without saying that he had technically proficient players in the engine room during his time in charge of Real Madrid and Spain.
There is absolutely no way that Soucek – a 68-capped Czech Republic international – will be able to survive playing in a system implemented by Lopetegui, when he becomes the new West Ham manager.
One of the most interesting signings that Lopetegui makes when he takes over at the London Stadium will be the first central midfielder that he brings to the club.
As good as Soucek has been for us, and important as he was during his first 18 months in East London, his time with the club is clearly up now.
I’m hoping for an extremely big improvement in the central midfield department this summer.
The Czech Republic international, 29, holds us back when we’re in transition because of his terrible technique and inability to play a simple 10-yard pass forward.
His pass completion rate of just 75.5% tells its own story, especially when taking into account the fact that he almost never plays risky passes (Who Scored).
Soucek has driven the Hammers fans to distraction at times this season, and he even had the front to criticise our support at the London Stadium.
I think he’s very much served his purpose now, and should be nowhere near the next stage of our development as a team – much like Moyes.
Lopetegui may not be the new West Ham manager that we all want, but he will certainly improve the quality of our squad if given the tools to do so by Sullivan.
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