West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui signed Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Julen Lopetegui bringing Niclas Fullkrug to West Ham for around £25 million may well end up being a masterstroke, or a big mistake – only time will tell.
However, I do feel like Julen Lopetegui needs to find a way to give Niclas Fullkrug the best possible chance to succeed with West Ham.
Fullkrug was one of nine new arrivals at the London Stadium in the summer transfer window, and he has made a slower start than most of them.
It’s harder for strikers though – they are judged purely on goals at the end of the day aren’t they, and the German has only made one start for us so far.
In the current setup, Fullkrug will continue to struggle, so Lopetegui absolutely has to make one big change in my opinion.
Niclas Fullkrug sends Julen Lopetegui a timely message
The experienced former Borussia Dortmund man has been a regular starter for Germany over the past two years.
The 31-year-old is far from fashionable, and has an uncompromising playing style, but he should be ideally suited to Premier League football.
I just hope that Lopetegui and Steidten were watching Germany in action in the Nations League on Saturday night.
Fullkrug operated in his usual centre-forward position for Germany during their 5-0 win over Hungary on Saturday night.
He put in a fairly decent all-round performance, but his goal instantly boosted his display to an 8/10 in my opinion.
I did notice one key difference though that made his job so much easier, and Lopetegui must take note.
Fullkrug was flanked closely by two narrow wingers – Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz. In fact, both players operated more as number 10s, rather than traditional wingers.
Then the Germans had attacking full-backs in the form of David Raum and Joshua Kimmich providing the width.
Lopetegui now has the blueprint for success, and he must use it.
Lopetegui must get the best out of Fullkrug
The 31-year-old looked much like his old self for Germany against Hungary, and Lopetegui must use that to his advantage.
Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus should operate much more central and closer to Fullkrug, no wider than the edge of the 18-yard box I would suggest.
The England and Ghana internationals are elite players, so it’s not like I’m suggesting that journeyman pros could do the same jobs as Musiala and Wirtz do for Germany.
Not only would Bowen and Kudus be able to provide better service for Fullkrug and get on the end of his flick-ons, but they’d be in even more dangerous goalscoring positions themselves, on a more regular basis.
And then the width in the team could be provided by Emerson Palmieri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
If Julen Lopetegui really wants to get the best out of Niclas Fullkrug, he absolutely cannot set up his team with Bowen and Kudus hugging the touchlines.
If the Hammers boss continues with that setup, the big German will then be left completely isolated in the middle, and he will continue to struggle.
Lopetegui must copy Julian Nagelsmann’s blueprint if he wants to get the best out of Fullkrug at the London Stadium.
