Julen Lopetegui looks like a man who has aged 10 years in the last two months and is it any wonder after another disappointing West Ham result.
Off the back of just one Premier League win from his first five games, the pressure was on Julen Lopetegui ahead of West Ham’s 1-1 draw at Brentford.
This was the Spaniard’s big chance to change the negative narrative around him in east London.
West Ham were at full strength bar Niclas Fullkrug while Brentford were missing no fewer than eight stars.
The Bees had to play two centre-backs at full-back.
Yet within seconds West Ham were back in the doldrums in west London.
The world and its wife knows Brentford have scored inside 30 seconds in each of their last two games.
Lopetegui would surely then have his team switched on to that clear and present danger?
If he did then they clearly took no notice.
West Ham do the inevitable from kick off at Brentford
A typically meek start to the game saw the Hammers do the inevitable and concede after just 37 seconds.
There are still no clear patterns of play, style or identity at West Ham.
Lopetegui may have had a big turnover of players in the summer. But managers at other clubs have made a more immediate impact in similar circumstances.
After making some unwelcome club history by losing their first three home league games for the first time in 129 years, the pressure was on the Spaniard at Brentford.
The top source inside the club revealed West Ham’s board had told Lopetegui ‘the next two are huge and we must improve’.
Any improvement there has been is minimal as West Ham always look open and vulnerable at the back without posing any real threat up top.
Lopetegui has angered and baffled fans in equal measure with his team selections and substitutions.
Lopetegui his own worst enemy with ludicrous substitution
Supporters were livid when they saw he had dropped Crysencio Summerville for the Brentford game with Michail Antonio starting up front once again.
To make matters worse Lopetegui subbed West Ham’s best player Mohammed Kudus at half-time.
Tony Gale on commentary revealed word from the touchline reporter was that it was a tactical call to sub Kudus off.
It comes one week after Lopetegui was jeered by 60,000 West Ham fans at the London Stadium for subbing off their best player – Summerville – during the defeat to Chelsea.
Lopetegui is his own worst enemy with a ludicrous substitution yet again.
The second half was a major improvement on the first but that wasn’t too difficult.
West Ham’s Achilles heel is that they simply do not create enough clear goalscoring opportunities and it’s making life very difficult indeed.
Trusty old Tomas Soucek rescued the Hammers again with a scrappy goal after some neat approach play.
But this is an underwhelming result given Brentford’s injury crisis and West Ham’s desperation for a win.
West Ham player ratings vs Brentford:
Alphonse Areola – 6/10: West Ham’s number one has been poor this season.
He still pulls off excellent saves but has stopped commanding his box and it is making the entire defence nervous.
Distribution has also been pretty poor. But Areola is the least of West Ham’s worries.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 8/10: Arguably West Ham’s best player on the day.
Made rampaging run after rampaging run. Who said he can’t attack?
Wan-Bissaka played really well, especially going forward and was even better when he switched to left-back in the second half.
Jean-Clair Todibo – 7/10: Collectively West Ham were pathetic for Brentford’s early goal.
But Todibo looked very good considering this was his first Premier League start for the Hammers. He reads the game extremely well.
Composed and comfortable on the ball, he brings much better balance to central defence alongside Max Kilman.
With more games the Frenchman looks like he will be a real star for this team as it evolves.
Max Kilman – 7/10: West Ham’s best performing player overall so far this season and he was good yet again.
So comfortable on the ball like Todibo. This could be the start of a really good partnership once the midfield situation gets sorted.
Kilman was key to getting West Ham up the pitch and starting attacks. Can still improve defensively but a great signing.
Emerson Palmieri – 4/10 (Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6.5/10): Emerson has been getting away with some really below par performances since the turn of the year.
This was yet another.
He was turned inside out within the first 15 seconds which set the tone for the early goal.
Really poor performance in which he looked well off the pace.
Deservedly subbed off at half-time.
Mavropanos played at right-back where he’s featured for Stuttgart in the past. And he did well and showed a good attitude after being dropped.
Has enough pace and mobility to be an emergency option in that position.
Guido Rodriguez – 5/10: The Argentine certainly knows the position and the game. As you’d expect from a World Cup winning midfielder.
But Rodriguez needs to be quicker on the ball and to the ball if he is going to make a big impact at West Ham. This is not La Liga where you have all the time in the world on the ball.
It’s important for the team that he adapts quickly.
Tomas Soucek – 8.5/10: Good old reliable Soucek was West Ham’s man of the match.
Was on it from the off making some vital defensive blocks, winning aerial duels and making a big contribution in attack too.
Not least by being involved in the build-up to – and then finishing off – the equaliser.
While Kilman has probably edged it in the eyes of fans, statistically Soucek has been West Ham’s best player overall this season so far.
Lucas Paqueta – 6/10 (Crysencio Summerville – 6/10): Abysmal first half was typical of Paqueta’s performances since the turn of the year.
But he was much improved in the second half and was the architect of the move which led to the equaliser.
Can and must still play so much better than this. But definitely improved when Carlos Soler came on for Kudus.
Paqueta had a big sulk as he walked off when subbed off for Summerville. Paqueta shook his head at Lopetegui but he has been nowhere near good enough to think he’s untouchable.
Summerville had one big chance which he spurned but wasn’t really on long enough to make a big impact. Will have been gutted not to start after bright performances against Chelsea and Liverpool.
Mohammed Kudus -6.5/10 (Carlos Soler – 6.5/10): Quite what Lopetegui was thinking bringing off West Ham’s best player for the second week running is anyone’s guess.
Kudus was the only West Ham player who looked a threat in the first half.
Gale suggested ‘something must have gone on in the dressing room’ between the manager and Kudus. That’s how shocking it was that he was brought off.
Soler was very good on the ball and created a couple of chances, he could be the one to make West Ham’s hodge-podge midfield more balanced.
Came close to getting a late winner.
Jarrod Bowen – 6.5/10 (Andy Irving – 6/10): Bowen will know better than anyone he is miles off his best so far this season.
Today was another difficult game for West Ham’s skipper nothing would quite go for him and he could and should have done better as he was in the vicinity for Brentford’s goal.
His end product was really poor for the most part but he kept plugging away.
Always gives everything and works his socks off for the team. Leads by example in that respect.
Irving on as timewasting sub.
Michail Antonio – 5/10 (Danny Ings – 6/10): West Ham fans feel like they are trapped in a parallel universe where Antonio is their starting striker into his 70s.
Antonio played better than he has this season – which is nothing to write home about.
But he offered nothing as a top level striker for the most part.
His shot did lead to the scramble which resulted in Soucek’s goal. That was his only telling contribution before being subbed off for Ings.
The striker had little of the ball and no chances to speak of.
Julen Lopetegui: 5/10: This game was there for the taking with all Brentford’s injuries.
Subbing off your best player two weeks in a row is asking for problems.
Continues to frustrate fans with his line-ups.
But in his defence Lopetegui is at least pro-active with his substitutions and clearly isn’t afraid to upset star names.
There were signs of life in the performance. But if West Ham fail to beat Ipswich next weekend the Spaniard will be feeling the heat over the international break.
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