Graham Potter’s West Ham in-tray: What new manager must do to turn fortunes around | OneFootball

Main priorities clear as Julen Lopetegui’s successor attempts to steer rocky Hammers ship into calmer waters

Graham Potter has a big job on his hands at West Ham after replacing Julen Lopetegui.

Here, Standard Sport assesses the main priorities for Potter at the London Stadium...

Turn results around

The most obvious issue for West Ham has been their inability to win games regularly.

Under David Moyes last season, the Hammers won 36.8 per cent of their Premier League matches. But only 30 per cent of Lopetegui’s 20 league games ended in victory, with six wins and points dropped against the likes of Everton, Crystal Palace and Leicester.

Struggle: West Ham have managed just six wins from their 20 Premier League games so far this season

Getty Images

Grit and determination at testing times has been sorely lacking, and it is that togetherness and steeliness which Potter must immediately seek to restore.

Strengthen the squad

Only five European teams spent more (net) in the transfer market in the summer than West Ham, who lavished over £130million on 10 new signings.

But injuries to Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen have left them still short of forwards. Another midfielder must also be a January priority.

The size of their transfer budget this month will have been one of the topics discussed when the job was first dangled in front of Potter, and his first six months in the role will be made much easier if there is scope this month to reinforce the weaker areas of the squad.

Without greater attacking depth at West Ham, it is hard to see a huge upturn in their fortunes.

Shore things up at the back

Lopetegui found real difficulty in ensuring his team kept focus after conceding, and that led to a number of games in which they shipped a glut of goals in a short space of time.

Liverpool’s three first-half goals in their 5-0 win at the London Stadium in December all came within a 14-minute period. Arsenal scored five in the first half alone, and Tottenham scored three goals in eight second-half minutes against the Hammers.

West Ham have had a bad habit of conceding gluts of goals in a short space of time

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Switching off to that degree was a major problem for West Ham under Lopetegui and is something Potter must remedy.

Among the 39 Premier League goals they have conceded this season have been some real shockers, including when Jean-Clair Todibo and Alphonse Areola combined for a comical Areola own goal against Tottenham. Picking a settled back line should help Potter put an end to this.

Pick players in form

Plenty of West Ham fans will hope that Potter’s appointment will bring an end to some of the curious tinkering with the starting lineup seen under Lopetegui.

Vladimir Coufal has been a fine servant to the club but, at 32, his best years are behind him. Once Emerson is back fit, it is surely time that the Italian returns to left-back and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is moved back to the right. Konstantinos Mavropanos can be a liability on the ball at centre-back, with Todibo surely a safer and more mobile option.

Further forward, with Bowen sidelined, faith must be kept with Mohammed Kudus, who is a potential match-winner even if his decision-making can sometimes be rash. Niclas Fullkrug is starting to emerge as a goalscorer and should be trusted to lead the line.