West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui is a man under serious pressure right now.
And that criticism ramped up tenfold after Saturday’s shambolic 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Julen Lopetegui arrived at West Ham in the summer amidst real excitement that he would take our great club onto the next level.
I’m not saying that every Hammers fan wanted him to replace David Moyes, because that simply wasn’t the case.
However, the vast majority of fans were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, and after some exceptional summer signings, things were looking really bright.
Lopetegui really did bring some fantastic players to the London Stadium, but the problem is that the Hammers head coach hasn’t been able to get a tune out of any of them yet, aside from Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
West Ham don’t seem to have a footballing identity right now, and the players are clearly completely lost regarding what Lopetegui actually wants them to do.
As things stand it’s a terrible situation to be in. The nightmarish run of fixtures on the horizon for the Hammers means that things won’t get any easier anytime soon.
So could the West Ham board really do the unthinkable and part ways with Lopetegui after just eight Premier League games?
West Ham reporter provides response to Julen Lopetegui sack talk
The most damning indictment of Lopetegui’s tenure in charge of the Hammers so far is that it already seems like the players aren’t playing for him.
Whether that’s actually the case or not is unclear, but what is certain is the fact that Lopetegui needs results, and fast.
Sean Whetstone took to his X account on Sunday to provide an update on Lopetegui’s future at the London Stadium.
The Hammers insider said, “West Ham’s head coach Julen Lopetegui will be given time to turn results around while integrating nine new players and introducing a new style of play and the board will NOT be making any knee jerk reactions.“
That’s fair enough in my opinion.
It’s far too early to be making any decisions on Lopetegui’s future just yet.
The Spaniard definitely deserves more time before he is judged fairly.
However, what I will say is that he spent some serious money in the summer transfer window, and that means that he must start producing something positive sooner rather than later.
If things haven’t improved over the course of the next two months, I don’t think Julen Lopetegui will still be the West Ham manager by Christmas.
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