West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos has put in some impressive performances for the Hammers in recent games.
The former Arsenal and Stuttgart player managed to dominate the highly rated Ivan Toney during the 4-2 win against Brentford on Monday night.
Fans on X now believe that Mavropanos should be a guaranteed starter for the rest of the season:
He reads the game very well & didn’t give Toney a second. Has the old Rik in him but commands the back line. A massive presence
— 🫧 ⚒RUSTYHAMMER⚒ 🫧 (@DeanoTy) February 27, 2024
I'd honestly give him and ogbonna a run of few games, zouma's legs have fully gone. I want to like Aguerd but something just seems off with him atm
— Stonkzilla ⚒ (@Stonkzilla666) February 27, 2024
I think dinos x aguerd could be our best defence
— Revan (@revan_himself) February 27, 2024
Mavropanos in a full sprint is the best thing I’ve ever seen
— Hammerz Reels (@ReelHammerz) February 26, 2024
Mavropanos is clear the best CB at this football club. Think it largely depends who he’s partnered with at the back, but games like tonight he was a Rolls Royce.
Got everything right, read the game well, intercepted play, won headers & the tackle in the first half.
Top draw
— Nick Marsh (@MarshyBoy26) February 26, 2024
Mavropanos fully locked up Toney for 90 minutes what a monster
— Jack (@Jackcoyi) February 26, 2024
Sign a LCB in the summer to go along side Mavropanos and we are so back
— SirDaddy_WHU (@dv0nch) February 26, 2024
Mavropanos has won West Ham supporters around
The Greek international did struggle after joining the club last year for an initial €20m (£17m). He was criticised for lapses of concentration that cost his team goals.
However, Mavropanos has improved as the campaign has gone on and he has started to outshine the likes of Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd.
The defender’s aerial stats are very impressive
As we saw when Mavropanos went up against Toney earlier this week, the centre-back is not afraid of an aerial battle.
Across the course of this season, the 26-year-old has won 65.8% of his aerial duels; that is the best percentage of any player in the Hammers’ first-team squad by quite some distance. Aguerd is the next strongest in the air (winning 60%).
Of course, Mavropanos does have other strengths. Against Brentford, he also showed he can cover ground very quickly. If he can improve the mental aspects of his game, he could become even better.
