Julen Lopetegui will fly home to Spain to visit his 94-year-old father during the international break.
The West Ham head coach had said before kick-off that it would be a short trip before coming back to east London to prepare for his side’s game with Newcastle. As boos from the home supporters engulfed the London Stadium at the full-time whistle following a drab and demoralising 0-0 draw with Everton, it is not certain he will have a job to return to.
West Ham owner David Sullivan has a reputation for giving his managers time, but this was as uninspiring as it gets.
The positives are that this was just a second clean sheet in 29 Premier League games and the hosts were the better team in the second half. But too often, attacks broke down in the final third and the lack of quality was startling.
Everton had edged what was a terrible first half but faded badly in the second. Given their run of fixtures in December, Sean Dyche may see this as two points dropped rather than one gained. The Toffees have Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and high-flying Nottingham Forest all to play next month.
Julen Lopetegui watched on in frustration as his side failed to beat Everton in the Premier League
Sean Dyche’s side had the better of the chances on Saturday afternoon but they remain 16th in the table
West Ham came closest to breaking the deadlock when Crysencio Summerville hit the post in the second half
In truth, neither team deserved more than the solitary point they came away with but Everton had Jordan Pickford to thank for a superb stoppage-time save.
For the second week in a row, it took West Ham until after the 35th minute to have a shot. Their first on target did not come until the 44th minute and it was a comfortable stop for Pickford. Everton had looked the brighter of the two teams up until the 25th minute but created little in the way of clear-cut chances.
Crysencio Summerville’s important block from Abdoulaye Doucoure was about the closest they came to breaking the deadlock. The football on show from both teams had been dire, so it was not a surprise to hear a smattering of boos from the home fans as the half-time whistle blew. The only hope was that surely things could not get any worse after the break.
There was at least an improvement from both teams. Guido Rodriguez forced Pickford into a fine save from a long-range effort before Lukasz Fabianski made an equally good stop to tip Jesper Lindstrom’s header over the crossbar.
West Ham came within inches of taking the lead in the 73rd minute as Summerville sent an effort against the post. Pickford, who was the best player on the pitch, then made superb from a deflected Danny Ings strike in added time.
