Lopetegui must drop West Ham star who nearly got him sacked

After a poignant weekend, West Ham United responded positively to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers and perhaps save Julen Lopetegui’s job with a hard-fought Premier League victory.

It was not a flawless display, but the Hammers deserve credit for fighting and prevailing in a match that both managers desperately needed to win.

Jarrod Bowen, as he so often does, popped up with two massive contributions to propel his Irons into 14th place, just five points behind Fulham in the top half.

He may have saved Lopetegui’s skin.

Jarrod Bowen keeps Lopetegui seated

It’s pretty clear that Lopetegui would have been given the sack had West Ham suffered another home defeat. Wolves are scrambling for form but languish near the pit of the Premier League and couldn’t be allowed to leave the London Stadium with points in the bag.

He set up Tomas Soucek’s opening goal before driving a fine goal strike mere moments after Matt Doherty equalised for the Old Gold.

Bowen is West Ham’s life-blood, with just one more performance for east London when it truly needed a hero. As stated, it wasn’t a perfect effort from the Irons, and there are some points to pick at.

West Ham need to ensure they put together a flowing run of good form, and in order to achieve this, Konstantinos Mavropanos must be dropped – even though he enjoyed one of his better games under Lopetegui’s wing.

Mavropanos nearly cost Lopetegui

Lopetegui doesn’t seem to be all that keen on Jean-Clair Todibo, who signed for the club on a season-long loan in the summer, with an obligation to buy for £34m in 2025. Juventus were defeated in the transfer battle.

It’s a curious situation, not least because Mavropanos continually leaves plenty to be desired on the pitch. In fairness, he made significant improvements from the disastrous display against Leicester City in midweek, notably in his duel winning percentage, but it’s rather hard to claim that he’s deserving of a nailed-down starting berth.

Mavropanos’ statistics oft appear impressive – in isolation. The Greece international is rash and prone to misguided decisions that can evade the glare of the data compilation.

Retired defender Andy Hinchcliffe rebuked the centre-half in the opening half after he “should have done better” with a glorious chance to open his team’s account, and he found himself at the centre of further concern in the closing stages, lucky to have avoided the concession of a penalty after he stamped on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s foot in the box.

Hinchliffe made his opinion known once again, criticised for the “completely unnecessary” challenge that he was “so lucky to get away with.”

With Todibo waiting in the wings, you’ve got to think that Mavropanos should be dropped for the forthcoming Premier League fixture – away at Bournemouth in one week.

The Evening Standard decided to give the 25-year-old a 7/10 match score. Not bad. But had the officiating been conducted only marginally different – it could have been a very different outcome.

It’s important to take a deep breath and recognise the value in claiming three points, the value in moving within a point of Manchester United, two points of Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The relegation zone, moreover, has now stretched nine lovely points into the distance. Of course, vented frustrations move beyond just a ranking in the Premier League table. The football has been strained and colourless at times; the defensive high line raises questions; Lopetegui’s team selections raise more questions still.

But for now, three points, and another chance to make headway. The Spanish tactician needs to realise that there are some players – like Todibo and Lucas Paqueta – who must be in the starting line-up.

Mavropanos nearly cost him his job – will he make the same blunder again?