Julen Lopetegui seems to be a dead man walking at West Ham United right now.
West Ham have experienced a terrible start to the 2024/25 season, with Julen Lopetegui having struggled to implement his ideas so far.
It has actually been claimed by Fabrizio Romano that the West Ham owners are contemplating sacking Lopetegui and replacing him with Edin Terzic.
That said, it has also been suggested by the likes of Jacob Steinberg that the Hammers board will not rush into making a decision on the 58-year-old’s future, even if we fail to beat Everton.
However, I don’t agree with Steinberg. I don’t see how Lopetegui’s position can be tenable if we fail to beat a poor Everton side.
If we want to make genuine progress as a club, Lopetegui has to be moved on.
And if the Spaniard does leave the London Stadium, one man is being tipped to replace him…
Ex-Chelsea boss tipped to replace Julen Lopetegui at West Ham
The 58-year-old quite clearly faces a very bleak future at the London Stadium.
If we lose to Everton on Saturday, it could well be curtains for him.
In fact, it has been suggested that anything less than a convincing performance could be enough to see Lopetegui sacked.
If that does happen though, who could replace him?
Darren Bent suggested on talkSPORT that Graham Potter is the ideal man to replace Lopetegui at the London Stadium.
Bent said, “Where’s Graham Potter at?“
“Get Potter. If you don’t want Lopetegui and you want a progressive manager, someone who plays football the right way.“
“I don’t understand why Potter hasn’t got a job yet. Was he waiting for England?”
Here’s the thing, if we as fans really want a more attractive brand of football, Potter is the man for the job.
He did a great job at Brighton, and wasn’t given enough time for his methods and ideas to bed in at Chelsea.
The difference with his struggles at Stamford Bridge and Lopetegui’s problems at the London Stadium is that is was evidently clear to see what Potter was trying to do at Chelsea.
His methods are incredibly complicated, and he often uses up to eight different systems during a game, so it takes time for his footballing philosophy to take hold.
He used more formations than another other manager during the 2021/22 season (Forbes).
Pep Guardiola raved about the 49-year-old a few years ago, labelling his Brighton team as a ‘joy to watch’ (Sky Sports).
Some West Ham fans might not agree, but I actually think Graham Potter is exactly the man we need to replace Julen Lopetegui.
However, that statement comes with the understanding and acceptance that things would get worse before they get better.
We would be on the correct path for the future though, trust me when I say that.
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