Two senior stars admit egos have become a major problem at divided West Ham

It all stems from a lack of team spirit, leadership and respect in the West Ham dressing room.

Lopetegui’s decision to make Jarrod Bowen captain has been called into question.

Bowen is a brilliant player and very much leads by example.

But even Kevin Nolan has said he doesn’t think Bowen is right for the role.

Time will ultimately tell, but the players themselves have made it clear that there are problems in the West Ham dressing room since Lopetegui’s arrival.

Story after story has emerged of locker room riots, bust-ups, public disagreements and even fights.

Lack of leadership and team spirit at West Ham

Although Michail Antonio inadvertently provided an occasion to rally against Wolves, Mohammed Kudus was seen arguing with Lopetegui after being subbed.

It itself came hot on the heels of leaks of a physical altercation between Jean-Clair Todibo and the manager.

Brutally honest Niclas Fullkrug spoke about the lack of leadership and hierarchy in the dressing room after that incident.

Even worse, the big German suggested that players don’t pull their weight in training.

Lopetegui had a bust-up with Kudus at Brentford.

He also reportedly had flings with Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez.

All five players are said to want to leave if he is not sacked.

There have been claims that West Ham’s owners are angry at the situation and have demanded the manager fix it or pay the price.

Emerson Palmieri criticized the mentality of the team under Lopetegui in an interview last week.

Bowen and Lukasz Fabianski have both spoken out about these issues in the past as well.

Now two senior stars admit egos have become a major problem at divided West Ham.

Senior stars admit egos have become a major problem for the Hammers

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of Bournemouth Tomas Soucek made it clear that egos are a problem in the new squad.

“The best way to be successful is for all 25 of the squad to hide their egos and act with one ego together,” Soucek said.

The great Czech even admitted that Lopetegui had spoken to the team about being fired.

Now Fabianski, West Ham’s most senior player, has spoken out again.

He says nobody should get carried away by the win over Wolves and admits there was a lot wrong with the unconvincing display.

The veteran goalkeeper was seen reading the riot act to Lucas Paqueta for his poor attitude in the win over Wolves.

And he says there is still work to be done to create a positive team spirit and energy among the squad.

“The win against Wolverhampton was important, but every win is important, regardless of what is being said in the media about the manager’s position or whatever.” Fabianski told West Ham’s website.

Fabianski says efforts must be made to improve team spirit

“It’s just important to win. That was our main goal for that game and we managed to achieve it.

“Obviously winning games helps the players to get that extra bit of confidence, but you can’t get too excited and you have to make sure you analyze the game properly and prepare as usual because there are always things to improve and make sure you is better for the next games. We still have a lot of work to do.

“We have a good group of players and we are really trying to do our best and continue to channel that positive team spirit.

“We’re always looking to improve as a team and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent when it comes to getting results.”

Nothing short of a win at Bournemouth will do if West Ham are to salvage their season.

Remarkably given the start to the season, the win for West Ham opens the door to hope for Europe again.

However, no team will achieve anything without a good team spirit.

And the biggest single problem Lopetegui has to solve to save his job and the season.

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