We sat down with former West Ham and Arsenal star Nigel Winterburn to discuss Julen Lopetegui’s future at West Ham and to also chat about the future of Mohamed Kudus, who has been linked to Arsenal.
Julen Lopetegui arrived with much fanfare as West Ham boss at the start of the season but the tide has turned quickly. The Hammers have failed to impress under his stewardship, having won only three games in the Premier League so far (W3, D3, L5).
Lopetegui’s men were outclassed by Nottingham Forest earlier this month in a 3-0 loss and played out a goalless draw with Everton last weekend.
I’m not sure of the style Julen Lopetegui is trying to play – Winterburn
Winterburn expressed his doubts about the play style that the Spanish manager is trying to implement. Using West Ham’s win over Man Utd as an example, Winterburn explained that he was unsure of the defensive organisation of the Hammers.
“I don’t know how to describe what I watched between Manchester United and West Ham because Manchester United United had a lot of chances on the counter attack. Clear chances. They opened West Ham up a lot and West Ham had to dig in.”
“West Ham have struggled this season and I’m just not sure of the style that Lopetegui is trying to play. There’s too much space between the front line and the backline. They’ve got great attacking talent but I’m not sure how strong or mobile they are defensively. If you can get in behind the midfield, I believe you can cause West Ham a lot of issues. United did that but didn’t put West Ham to the sword and let them off the hook. United should have had the game wrapped up. You could see the joy on the players’ faces afterwards. They worked hard and sometimes you just need a bit of luck.”
Could Mohamed Kudus be a backup for Bukayo Saka?
Kudus has been linked with a move to Arsenal and he is no doubt attracting interest from many big clubs. We posed the hypothetical scenario of Mohamed Kudus as a backup option for Bukayo Saka at Arsenal and that got the Gunners icon thinking.
Winterburn is a fan of the Ghanaian’s ability but doesn’t think he’s in the same league as Saka. That being said, he thinks that he could be a quality addition to Arsenal.
“Kudus has the ability. He is a good player, but he is not in the same league as Saka, that’s for sure. Martinelli lost his way a bit towards the end of last season. Do Arsenal need more players in that area? I think the manager would say he would love to have more players everywhere.”
Winterburn also feels that other factors like mentality and price will also play a big role in whether Arsenal will move for Kudus or not.
“I suppose they are also doing the assessment in terms of what Kudus’ character is like. Will he fit into their squad and not come in and disrupt it? That’s the last thing you want. But ability wise he has got it, but I don’t think he would come straight into the starting eleven. That could be an issue because he is used to playing a lot.”
“It’s an interesting question, because price is also relevant, for sure.”
Arsenal have not been at their best over the last month in the Premier League, with defeats to Newcastle and Bournemouth, as well as draws to Liverpool and Chelsea.
