Tom Rennie analyzes struggling West Ham defender's performance in the 1-1 draw

Although West Ham found the 1-1 equalizer against Fulham to take a point from this away fixture, their overall performance was underwhelming for most part of the match. The game started with Fulham advancing several times in the West Ham half and creating more space near the Hammers defence. Julen Lopetegui's side struggled to play against Fulham's high-pressing tactics and as a result, found themselves defending chances throughout the first half. 

While Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka looked reliable in the defence, 26-year-old centre back Konstantinos Mavropanos wasn't great in his decision making and looked slow on the ball while defending. Moreover, he made a mistake on the opening goal as he kept Emile Smith-Rowe onside, who gave the assist to Raul Jimenez to give Fulham the 1-0 lead. Now TalkSport analyst Tom Rennie analyzed Mavropanos's performance against Fulham, saying,

Tom Rennie analyzes struggling West Ham defender's performance in the 1-1 draw

"Mavrapanos again. Too deep. Doesn’t run back at pace. Doesn’t block the cross. Sorry, but he’s got to go. Nowhere near Premier League quality."

- Tom Rennie

While Mavropanos had an underwhelming performance, he can be a great defensive option for Julen Lopetegui's side. The former Arsenal defender has good physicality and possesses brilliant tackling ability, however he needs to improve his decision making and game awareness to become a quality centre back in the Premier League. In the other three league matches, the 26-year-old defender has been decent with his performances however he makes a few defensive mistakes as well. 

Therefore, manager Julen Lopetegui needs to start playing Jean-Clair Todibo alongside Max Kilman in the centre back role, and Mavropanos should feature for the Hammers as a second half substitute to gradually improve his game. Moreover, Lopetegui needs to make some changes to his tactical setup in order to improve West Ham's midfield so that they avoid leaving much empty space in the middle of the park. The Hammers have two big games coming up against Chelsea and Liverpool, thus should aim to put a much improved overall performance as compared to the Fulham match.