The genius free agent transfer that could solve West Ham United's problems - if he stays fit
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The Julen Lopetegui era at the London Stadium has not started especially smoothly. West Ham United have just one win from four games and for all the investment made in the squad this summer, there has yet to be an appreciable step forward on the pitch. A slightly lacklustre 1-1 draw away to Fulham on Saturday underlined the point, and may have sparked some fresh concerns about the defence – at least, if a new report from The Sunday Mirror is correct.
That story has the Hammers dipping back into the transfer market to bolster their options along the back line, which probably wasn’t in the plan for the current season but may be a necessity given limited depth and concerns over the form or fitness of a couple of their current players. If they do need a Plan B, however, the question is whether Joël Matip is the right man for the job.
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Hide AdThe former Liverpool defender is the player named as the extra body that Lopetegui could be after, and given that free agents are permitted to sign for a new side outside of the transfer window, the 33-year-old is at least a viable option. But can a centre-back who is only just coming back from a serious injury really be the answer?
Matip suffered a season-ending ACL injury last December and while that isn’t the necessarily the career-changing injury that it once was, it’s certainly not ideal by the time you’re comfortably north of 30. The obvious strike against signing Matip, and perhaps one which has put off other potential clubs, is that even when the transfer is free you still can’t guarantee a return on investment for his wages if he can’t get back to his best after what can be a very debilitating injury for an athlete.
But if we assume that West Ham’s medical team run the tests and decide they’re happy enough, and that Matip has come through the experience more or less unscathed, is he capable of making a difference and getting Lopetegui’s defence up to scratch? That depends on which issues Lopetegui is most concerned about.
Based on the game at Craven Cottage, there’s probably a degree of concern over the performances of Konstantinos Mavropanos. Although the Greek defender does the vast majority of his work efficiently, effectively and with a minimum of fuss, he has a nasty tendency to get caught on the hop by strikers and a serious lack of speed to make up for it when he gets caught out.
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Hide AdThat issue was summed up neatly when Raúl Jiménez was able to get half a yard on Mavropanos too easily inside the area to earn room to score the opening goal – and that was after the 26-year-old had already been let off when the VAR decided against awarding a penalty for a clumsy challenge from behind on Adama Traoré when the Spaniard blasted past him into the box.
It isn’t that Mavropanos is a terrible defender and his fundamentals are solid, but it’s very hard to get away being unable to handle short-distance bursts of acceleration from opposing players at this sort of level.
Could Matip make a difference on that score? The Cameroonian isn’t remarkably quick and his top speed is a little below average for the Premier League, and earned a reputation during his time at Anfield for occasional lapses of concentration or judgement. He made up for it with a strong positional sense and rock-solid technical game, but unless he can play close to his very best, it’s doubtful that he can erase the issues that playing Mavropanos creates.
Probably the big question going around East London right now is why the Greek is playing at all when Jean-Clair Todibo is sat on the bench – although his performance when given a start against Bournemouth in the EFL Cup second round may offer a clue. He looked sluggish, off the pace and out of touch, and was presumably short of full fitness for one reason or another. Which is frustrating, because Todibo does have the short-distance speed and concentration to prevent goals like Fulham’s.
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Hide AdBut if Todibo isn’t quite right, then perhaps that becomes the single best reason to sign Matip – to add some missing depth. West Ham have just three senior centre-backs on the books right now with Mavropanos, Todibo and summer signing Max Kilman. Kurt Zouma and Nayef Agüerd are out on loan, and Angelo Ogbonna is gone. West Ham aren’t in a position to be able to cope with Todibo needing time to get up to speed, and perhaps Matip is just the fresh body with enough quality in his legs to be worth getting on the books.
The real question is simply whether that body is fully functional. If it is, then bringing a veteran defender with a strong body of work to his name on board is simply a sensible move. But if all signing Matip does is add another defender with fitness problems or another defender who can’t handle a sudden blast of pace from an opposing player, then it won’t solve much of anything at all.
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