West Ham United's youngest ever captain, Nigel Reo-Coker, has expressed concern regarding the lack of "characters" in Julen Lopetegui's current squad.
The former midfielder, who captained West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup Final at the age of just 21 told Five Live how he had spent time with the squad during West Ham's summer tour of the USA.And Reo-Coker, now 40, admitted that he found the lack of strong personalities present in the current first team squad surprising.
"I spent a bit of time with them this pre-season and I think, when I look at their performances now and all the change and what’s going on, my biggest worry is the lack of characters that I saw there - especially with how things are going," he said.
And when asked to comment on current club captain Jarrod Bowen's leadership credentials, Reo-Coker believes he may struggle to fill the boots of the likes of Mark Noble and even predecessor Kurt Zouma.
"For me, Bowen is someone who can be a character and personality," he said. "I just think now it is too much for him to do it by himself."
Reo-Coker, who spent three seasons at West Ham between 2004 and 2007 currently lives and works in the USA, where he is a regular pundit on CBS Sports' Golazo Network.
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