West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui will be waking up this morning battered and bruised, both figuratively and metaphorically speaking.
Julen Lopetegui looked forlorn on the sidelines as his West Ham side succumbed to a 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
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To add insult to injury, Lopetegui suffered a calf injury whilst gesticulating to Hammers winger Crysencio Summerville.
It was a poor second-half performance from the players that cost us, with Edson Alvarez badly letting down the fans, his manager and teammates after being sent-off with 15 minutes still to play.
The pressure is really on Lopetegui now, and with an away game at Brentford just two days away, the Spaniard needs to get down to some really hard work on the training ground with his players.
The outcome of the clash with the Bees will be vitally important to Lopetegui’s hopes of taking our club on to another level.
Pressure on Julen Lopetegui ahead of Brentford vs West Ham clash
The defeat to Liverpool was a hugely disappointing one, but the 5-1 scoreline definitely flattered them.
That said, we were still a shambles defensively, and that must improve if we are to beat Brentford on Saturday.
Real questions are already being asked of Lopetegui, regarding whether he is the man we actually need at the helm.
The last thing he needs is a trip to one of our bogey teams on Saturday.
And now the pressure has really been cranked up a notch.
Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas has suggested that Saturday’s game against Brentford is now a must-win for the Hammers.
“West Ham have conceded 12 goals in their last four games. Lopetegui needs to turn it around. Brentford is a must-win game.“
Whilst it may be an exaggeration to suggest that the Brentford game is a must-win, should we lose it will become toxic real fast.
Julen Lopetegui needs to find a system and stick to it
The Hammers boss is chopping and changing far too much for my liking.
If he is intent on playing a possession-based system, then he needs to start Carlos Soler and Lucas Paqueta in central midfield ahead of either Guido Rodriguez or Edson Alvarez.
Jean-Clair Todibo must start over Konstantinos Mavropanos as well in order for Lopetegui to instil more of a ball-playing mindset.
However, if he chooses to go down more of a deep-block, counter attacking route, then the personnel needs to change, with the likes of Mavropanos playing at the back, two holding midfielders coming into the side and a front three stacked with pace and power.
Right now, everything seems to be so haphazard, with the players lacking any kind of guile, clear direction or a discernible playing style.
Julen Lopetegui has to fix things at West Ham quickly – a loss against Brentford would see the pressure on his shoulders crank up significantly.
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