West Ham strikerNiclas Fullkrug tore into his team-mates on Saturday and now the Hammers have reportedly decided on a punishment for his rant.
Graham Potter’s side put in a disappointing performance against already-relegated Southampton over the weekend as they dropped to 17th position in the Premier League.
Jarrod Bowen put West Ham ahead just after the interval and it looked like the Hammers would hang on for three points before Lesley Ugochukwu produced a brilliant finish to level in second-half injury time.
West Ham have not won in their last six Premier League fixtures and Fullkrug came out firing in his “very angry” post-match interview in which he criticised his team-mates.
Fullkrug told Sky Sports: “It is a mindset problem. Very angry today.
“Not disappointed, just angry with what we did after the goal. It was difficult to bring the boys back to push up, we didn’t push up anymore.
“We tried, but we didn’t have the ability or the motivation to push up again. I am very, very angry that we played like this.
“We had some minutes where we showed what we can do against an opponent like that at home.
“We showed the possession we can have, that we can go in behind and have the chances to score again.
“But the motivation, sorry we were s*** and I’m very angry.
“It is not the first time where we score a goal and then the next goal kick we just shoot the ball long. We don’t try to playfootballanymore.
“We don’t push up anymore, we just sink and that’s not the way we want to play.
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“Why we play 65 minutes before with possession, even if it’s not perfect.
“We try to play with possession, try to create chances, we try to score and then we score and after that half of the team try to score again and the other half just try to defend very deep.
“That is not the way it works. We have to find a way to have togetherness, to have the idea, where we want to go and what we want to do.
“The coach was very clear with what he wants, we have to do it all and everyone has to do it.”
But the West Ham board will not take any action against Fullkrug with the Daily Telegraph‘s Jason Burt writing:
‘West Ham hierarchy sympathise with Niclas Fullkrug’s rant about team-mates-German striker will not faceany punishment for describing side’s performance as “s—” after they squandered victory against Southampton’
It suggests that the board agree with Fullkrug’s rant and Burt adds:
‘However, the club fully support Potter and have been hugely impressed by his work on the training ground and behind the scenes. But there is frustration at how West Ham have dropped points late on in games, with Southampton scoring in the 93rd minute to salvage a draw.’
