West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui admitted that the game against Tottenham got away from him far more quickly than he expected.
During the second half of the encounter with Tottenham, the Hammers went 2-1 down, prompting Lopetegui to attempt a triple substitution in the hope of turning the game back in his favour.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the score-line seemed to be 4-1 in the blink of an eye following Ange Postecoglou’s halftime tactical switch, with goals from Yves Bissouma, Son Heung-min, and an own goal from Jean-Clair Todibo or Alphonse Areola, depending on which newspaper you read.
It was an eight-minute spell that ended any hopes of the Hammers getting any points from the game, as Lopetegui waited to make changes. The Irons coach cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as he looked to make his changes but he must take some blame as he decided against making the subs when the ball went out of play for a corner.
“We wanted to make the substitutions at 2-1, but everything happened very fast,” replied Lopetegui. “It’s true that even before it went 2-1, we were thinking about changing the players, but things in football can happen very fast, and it was a bad moment for us. Despite not getting the substitutes on, I think we can do better with the players on the pitch. It’s about keeping the focus and the right mentality.”
