The end is near. A disastrous week for Julen Lopetegui at West Ham United: Five goals from Liverpool. Four from an out-of-form Manchester City. A nine-one aggregate week from a side put together last summer at the cost of something approaching £140 million, and still West Ham’s Chairman sits on the fence.
This is the head coach who has presided over the 5-0 loss against Liverpool, 4-1 loss against Manchester City, 3-1 loss against Leicester for heavens sake, 5-2 loss against Arsenal, 3-0 loss against Nottingham Forest, 4-1 loss against Spurs, 5-1 loss against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and 4-0 loss against Chelsea.Oh and a 3-1 loss against Manchester City back in August, plus the modest season opener loss of 2-1 against Aston Villa.
And yesterday, after such a string of dismal performances, Lopetegui decided to storm off down the tunnel without even acknowledging the West Ham fans who’d bothered to struggle up the M6 to support the club in spite of the inevitable hiding that was coming.
If you are trying to build team spirit and rapport with the fans, you stick around and face the supporters. As the coach responsible for disaster after disaster, Julen Lopetegui has nowhere left to hide, no more excuses to offer, and no more ideas on how to improve. Dom Smith in the standard.co.uk put it succinctly:“West Ham reverted to type, tapping into the sort of frail defending that gifted Liverpool a few of their five goals” .
Sadly, that is becoming Lopetegui’s trademark at West Ham United. Frail defending. Some legacy.
In contrast, one of the favourites to replace him, Sergio Conceicao, got off to a winning start with AC Milan, the club he joined just four days ago. 2-1 against bitter rivals Juventus.
It feels like the famous final scene from naff TV quiz show Bullseye: ‘Here’s what you could have won, West Ham fans’.
Instead, more Lopetegui.
He’s surely heading for the door. Do we really have to witness another thrashing on Friday night against Aston Villa before someone in the executive box grows a pair and does the decent thing, though?
