West Ham insider dispels rift between Kudus and coach Lopetegui

Podcast co-host and West Ham insider, ExWHUEmployee, has clarified that there is no ongoing conflict between head coach Julen Lopetegui and Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus.

This comes after Kudus was substituted at halftime during West Ham's recent match against Brentford, where the Hammers were trailing 1-0.

Lopetegui made the decision to replace Kudus and Emerson with Mavropanos and Soler, respectively, in an effort to change the game's dynamics.

ExWHUEmployee noted that while Kudus was understandably frustrated by being taken off early, the situation was resolved quickly. He emphasized that such reactions are common among players and should not be exaggerated.

“This story surrounding Kudus has been doing the rounds in the media, so I wanted to clarify it further so it doesn’t appear more serious than it actually is,” Ex stated on The West Ham Way Podcast.

“Lopetegui felt at halftime that things were not working, and one decision was to swap Kudus for Soler, for which Kudus was disappointed.”

He added, “The player was unhappy at the time, however, we were trailing, and Lopetegui has every right to make changes he feels can help the team—and in the end, we managed to get the equalizer and could have won the match.

There really is nothing more than a player being unhappy in the moment, and we understand things are fine now as we prepare for the important game against Ipswich at the weekend.”

Tomas Soucek's goal secured a 1-1 draw after Brentford's Bryan Mbuemo scored within the first minute.

Kudus, who has made eight appearances for the club without scoring, will be eager to break his goal drought when West Ham faces Ipswich Town at the London Olympic Stadium this weekend.