Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten certainly haven’t been a match made in heaven at West Ham United.
West Ham appointed Tim Steidten as the director of football at the London Stadium in July 2023, before Julen Lopetegui was appointed as manager 12 months later.
However, things haven’t gone as plan, with the two clashing over numerous transfer targets in the summer.
Lopetegui will allegedly be sacked today, with Graham Potter coming into the London Stadium to replace the Spaniard.
There has been chaos behind the scenes at West Ham recently, with Steidten said to have become very unpopular amongst certain members of staff.
There’s something not right at West Ham right now, that much is clear.
It just seems like so many of our key staff are pulling in completely opposite directions.
It’s clearly time for a big change, and the board could be set to make a ruthless decision it seems.
Julen Lopetegui sacking could be followed by Tim Steidten twist
I actually blame Steidten nearly as much as Lopetegui for the Hammers’ struggles this season.
Lopetegui has failed to imprint a discernible playing style onto the team, and his tactics have been utterly baffling at times.
However, Steidten has failed miserably in his role as well.
Where are the exciting young signings we were promised?
And don’t come at me with Luis Guilherme…nobody will know one way or another whether he’s actually any good for another year or so yet.
And now it seems as though patience is wearing thin with the director of football at board level.
West Ham are said to be ‘deeply unhappy’ with Steidten, according to The Guardian, and sacking him along with Lopetegui has not been ruled out.
I don’t blame the Hammers board one little bit for being underwhelmed by the German.
Steidten simply hasn’t been good enough since being named as the director of football at West Ham 18 months ago.
He was known as the ‘pearl-diver’ before he joined the Hammers, due to his uncanny knack of unearthing undiscovered gems.
However, he hasn’t lived up to that tag one little bit at the London Stadium.
The only signing from the German I have been impressed with is Mohammed Kudus, and he was hardly an unknown was he!
He failed to address key areas of the Hammers squad in the summer just gone.
We needed a young and pacy centre-forward and a powerful, ball-carrying central midfielder but Steidten failed to bring either of those to the London Stadium.
The signings of Niclas Fullkrug and Guido Rodriguez were seriously underwhelming at the time, and they have since proven to be disastrous for the Hammers.
Julen Lopetegui obviously has to leave West Ham, and if Tim Steidten follows him out the door then so be it.
It’s time for real change at West Ham, and an exciting future lies ahead of us.
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