More unrest as three West Ham stars make disgust clear to Julen Lopetegui

When a club gets a new boss you often hear about honeymoon periods or that new manager bounce.

There has been none of that for Lopetegui or the Hammers.

A brief fling would be welcomed by West Ham fans right now let alone a honeymoon.

Another drab, dismal performance devoid of quality and bereft of entertainment has left Lopetegui nowhere to hide.

Speculation is now bound to intensify over his future.

Everton was billed as a ‘must-win’ by several journalists close to West Ham’s owners.

One top Hammers reporter had even claimed Lopetegui would only avoid the axe if West Ham beat the Toffees convincingly.

There was nothing convincing about the performance in this stalemate at the London Stadium.

Especially – yet again – the opening 45 minutes.

Lopetegui has been keen to accentuate improved second half performances.

But when you’re starting from such a dreadfully low base, that’s no achievement.

The biggest thing that has stuck out like a sore thumb so far under the Spaniard is the feeling this group is not playing for him.

More unrest as three West Ham stars make disgust clear

That should ring alarm bells because the least you expect when you appoint a new boss is that you see a spike in performances and effort from players as they look to impress.

There’s none of that under Lopetegui.

Nobody is enjoying themselves. Fans are bored, players look fed up and uninspired and the manager seems to constantly wear a worried look.

Off the pitch, Lopetegui has failed to enthuse or inspire fans with drab press conferences and interviews offering nothing but tired stock platitudes and refusing to engage with straightforward questions.

He even kept the media waiting until the last moment after the Everton snooze fest. And word is it didn’t go down well with those who will now spend the next two weeks writing about his future.

Journalist Alex Crook recently claimed there is unrest in the West Ham dressing room. Crook says several players are ‘unconvinced’ about Lopetegui.

The actions of certain players have done little to dampen reports of unrest in the ranks.

Mohammed Kudus took on the manager in the changing room at Brentford when he was singled out for criticism. Kudus was subbed off and was seen kicking a seat on his return to the bench for the second half.

When he had complete head loss at Spurs, many felt it was a sign Kudus was acting out against the manager.

Edson Alvarez has shown indiscipline as well with two red cards.

After his latest, Alvarez apologised to fans and his teammates on social media, but notably not the manager.

Now there’s more unrest as three West Ham stars make their disgust clear to Lopetegui.

Lopetegui failing to command respect at West Ham

When substituted in the cup win over Bournemouth, Alvarez was caught on camera reacting very angrily towards the manager. He continued to vent about being brought off as he made his way to sit on the bench.

Alvarez had to walk right past Lopetegui when he was red carded at Forest. But they both blanked one another.

Lucas Paqueta has been seen shaking his head at Lopetegui when subbed too.

Now three more key stars have shown there is clear discontent in the ranks.

Lopetegui surprised the entire stadium by bringing off Michail Antonio and Aaron Wan-Bissaka when needing a win against Everton.

As cameras zoomed in on Guido Rodriguez, the midfielder – who was subbed off after 35 minutes of a defeat to Chelsea earlier in the season – looked in disbelief as he too was brought off.

Cameras followed Rodriguez as he left the pitch and he proceeded to walk past the manager before angrily booting a bottle away.

As Antonio was walking off he looked incredulous and totally despondent. The striker had done pretty well all things considered and was understandably surprised at his withdrawal.

Wan-Bissaka was one of Lopetegui’s most baffling subs yet.

He was shaking his head and muttering to himself wearing an angry scowl.

Of course players are going to be annoyed coming off. You wouldn’t necessarily want it any other way.

But the fact they don’t respect the manager and his decisions speaks volumes.

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