Lopetegui should bench West Ham’s 5/10 performer and start “old-fashioned” striker – opinion

Last season, West Ham’s wingers were crucial to the team’s performance, with Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen bearing much of the responsibility for their offensive output.

The team managed to score 60 goals, which ranked them eighth in the league.

Kudus played 45 games across all competitions for West Ham, contributing 14 goals and six assists.

Bowen, in comparison, made 44 appearances, scoring 20 goals and adding 10 assists.

These two players were pivotal in keeping the team’s attack effective, while the strikers faced difficulties.

The Hammers’ forwards struggled considerably, managing only eight goals between them throughout the entire season.

Danny Ings scored just once, and Michail Antonio managed seven goals, highlighting the issues up front.

Michail Antonio’s Start to the Season

This season, West Ham has had a challenging start to their Premier League campaign, losing two of their first three matches and winning one.

Their opening fixtures were tough, with their first match against Aston Villa, who finished fourth last season, and their third against reigning champions Manchester City.

Antonio has started all three games for West Ham so far but has yet to hit his stride in front of goal.

In the 206 minutes he has played, he has taken five shots but has failed to hit the target even once.

While Antonio brings other valuable qualities to the team, such as his hold-up play and ability to stretch defenses by running the channels, his finishing has been lacking.

This was evident in his 5/10 match rating from 90min in the game against Manchester City.

Now 34 years old, Antonio has made 311 appearances for West Ham, scoring 82 goals and providing 40 assists in over 22,000 minutes of play.

However, it may be time for manager Julen Lopetegui to consider a change in the striker position.

Füllkrug Waiting in the Wings

One possible replacement is Niclas Füllkrug, the summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, who joined for a fee of around £27 million.

Füllkrug has been described by Ally McCoist as an “old-fashioned” center forward, and he is ready to step in if Lopetegui decides to make a change.

Last season, Füllkrug made 46 appearances for Dortmund, scoring 16 goals and providing 10 assists.

He accumulated a total of 3,605 minutes of play, including 1,042 minutes in the Champions League, as Dortmund reached the final, eventually losing 2-0 to Real Madrid.

Füllkrug’s stats from last season show he is more prolific than Antonio.

He averaged 0.40 goals per 90 minutes compared to Antonio’s 0.31 and provided more assists, with 0.25 per 90, while Antonio averaged 0.09.

Additionally, Füllkrug poses a greater threat in the box, winning 3.49 aerial duels per 90 minutes, in contrast to Antonio’s 1.88.

Füllkrug also takes more shots, with 2.34 per 90 minutes and 0.93 on target, compared to Antonio’s 1.56 shots and 0.71 on target.

Although Antonio offers ball-carrying ability, which Füllkrug may not, West Ham already has Kudus and Bowen, who excel in this area.

This allows the striker to focus on impacting play in and around the box.

Given this, Füllkrug should be the one leading the line ahead of Antonio.

While Füllkrug is an injury doubt ahead of the next match, if fit, he should be the starting striker for West Ham.