- Fullkrug launched an astonishing rant after West Ham’s draw with Southampton
- Graham Potter admitted the Hammers have big decisions to make this summer
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Well, at least someone cares. Niclas Fullkrug’s sensational rant in front of the television cameras after West Ham squandered a stoppage-time equaliser to Southampton was as refreshing as it was remarkable.
How easy it would have been for a player to shuffle to the microphone after letting a team like Saints, one that’s been bottom for 170 days and counting, and reel out the old lines that it was a disappointing result but they would make sure they worked hard on the training pitch and come back stronger next week.
Not Fullkrug. ‘We were s***’, he blasted. ‘It’s a mentality problem. We didn’t have the motivation to push up.’
Those who watch West Ham regularly have been saying exactly that all season. Saturday marked 100 days since Graham Potter took charge and he brushed off questions after the game about whether this is a tougher gig than he expected. Deep down, he must go home knowing that, boy oh boy, it really is.
West Ham are lucky that Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich have been so bad. If the promoted sides make a better fist of it next season, a West Ham team that keeps playing like this will be in a relegation battle.
Potter himself said his team cannot currently control a game with attacking football and had to rely on counter attacks. Yet this was a side that had Fullkrug, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and on-loan Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Carlos Soler all in the starting line-up. They should have enough keys to pick the rickety locks of a team like Southampton.
Niclas Fullkrug claimed West Ham were ‘s***’ in an astonishing X-rated rant on Saturday
The Hammers threw away a late lead against relegated Southampton to draw 1-1 at home
Graham Potter admitted West Ham – who have the joint-oldest squad in the Premier League – have big decisions to make this summer
He complained that his side didn’t have the ‘physical capacity’ to avoid just dropping deep late on as Saints kept pushing. That might be because West Ham have the joint-oldest squad in the division. Replacing Bowen with Konstantinos Mavropanos didn’t help.
This is a huge summer for Potter. He admitted the club has big decisions to make. He now has five games left to decide which players he wants to keep – on this showing, there can’t be many.
