Julen Lopetegui told to knock off Pep Guardiola tribute act after West Ham humbling

Former England strikers Michael Owen and Jermaine Defoe have told Julen Lopetegui to stop pretending Aaron Wan-Bissaka is Kyle Walker and start playing him to his actual strengths instead.

The two strikers were left aghast at seeing Wan-Bissaka seemingly instructed to get forward and come inside to help add numbers to the attack in central areas.

The England international was predictably unable to offer terribly much to the West Ham United attack playing that role, while his jaunts forward left the Hammers repeatedly exposed to Chelsea counter-attacks as they fell to a three-goal home defeat.

Owen told Premier League productions: “If you’re West Ham, if you’re the manager, the recruitment officer – whoever you are at West Ham – and you’re wanting a full-back to play in this [system], the last person you go and buy is Wan-Bissaka.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s brilliant, he’s probably the best right-back defensively in the country, in the Premier League.

“But if you’re going to ask somebody to get up wide and high and come inside and play central, I don’t know why you’d get Wan-Bissaka. That’s not his game – his game is plugging the gaps, he’s not letting anything past, he’s a brilliant defender, he’s not brilliant going forward.

“Yet they are utilising him in totally the wrong way. It’s a very strange buy if they’re going to utilise him like that.”

READ NEXT:
👉 3pm Blackout: Dyche and O’Neil on the brink while Arsenal enjoy Newcastle humbling
👉 Top 10 Premier League players, managers, clubs and even abstract ideas living on borrowed time
👉 Moyes to Everton? Eight reasons for and against ‘sensational return’ with Dyche facing the sack

West Ham academy product Defoe responded: “Do you know what’s interesting, even looking at the goals, you see how much space Nicolas Jackson had – not just him, [but all Chelsea’s] forward players to run into.

“I can’t remember seeing Wan-Bissaka play like that ever. I can’t remember the amount of times I’ve seen him running back towards his own goal; he’s never probably played like that before. I think with him, you speak about one vs one defending, he probably has to stay in his position and probably make it a little bit difficult.

“It was weird how high he played, in certain moments he was playing inverted inside.”