Julen Lopetegui oversaw a disastrous first half of the season in charge of West Ham United.
West Ham parted ways with Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday afternoon, and replaced him with Graham Potter.
Lopetegui clearly lost the Hammers dressing room very early on in his London Stadium tenure, and the players even organised nights out without him in an effort to improve team morale.
The Spaniard was a terrible appointment in the first place, and he just seemed like a really poor fit for West Ham from day one.
If only the Hammers owners had the courage and conviction to sack him sooner – I’m sure we’d be in a much better place now had they done exactly that.
I’m convinced that the future is very bright for West Ham with Potter at the helm.
Why couldn’t the Hammers board see the extent of the problems we had with Lopetegui in charge earlier on in the season though?
Bizarre method Julen Lopetegui used during West Ham training
Lopetegui clearly has a lot of faults as a manager.
His tactics were utterly bizarre at times, namely his use of one of the best defensive full-backs in the country – Aaron Wan-Bissaka – as an advanced wing-back.
The Spaniard failed to implement a discernible playing style during his time at the London Stadium. That was unacceptable, given the fact that he was in charge for just over six months.
Another big problem was his inability to form strong relationships with his players, and indeed the Hammers fans.
The players were clearly just as confused by his methods as the fans were.
According to The Athletic, one of Lopetegui’s methods in particular left the Hammers players baffled.
“Players found instructions in training and matches confusing — and goalkeepers trained with the outfielders.”
“The team often played a possession-based style in training, with the goalkeepers sometimes mixing in with their outfield colleagues. But this differed from what Lopetegui would then implement on match-day.“
That just sums up Lopetegui really doesn’t it.
Baffling ideas on the training ground that subsequently led to utterly shocking performances on the pitch.
It’s little wonder why he got sacked in the end is it.
Hopefully Graham Potter is able to get a tune out of the West Ham squad. Julen Lopetegui failed miserably in doing just that.
And there are clearly a huge amount of reasons as to why he struggled so badly.
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