Julen Lopetegui is clearly on borrowed time at West Ham United right now.
West Ham have begun the 2024/25 campaign in awful fashion, and Julen Lopetegui apparently now has only two games to save his job.
If the Hammers lose to Newcastle and Arsenal, the Spaniard will undoubtedly be sent packing from the London Stadium.
Considering how much money Lopetegui spent in the summer, the first third of the season has been unacceptable.
The West Ham players have been miles off the pace so far, and we lack any kind of footballing identity as a team.
The worrying thing is that Lopetegui seems to be absolutely clueless when it comes to improving his side’s performances.
It’s clear to see that the Hammers owners made the wrong appointment in the summer.
Now it’s all about correcting that mistake.
Big £8.5m twist as West Ham eye Julen Lopetegui replacement
Lopetegui faces an extremely bleak future in East London.
The wisdom behind appointing the Spaniard in the first place now looks extremely questionable.
Now all that matters will be getting the correct replacement in through the door.
One man who is apparently on our radar is available for nothing, and there has been a big twist it seems.
Roger Schmidt is said to be a target for the Hammers, and he has been in the news out in Portugal today.
According to O Jogo, Hammers managerial target Roger Schmidt is still waiting on an £8.5 million compensation payment from Benfica, after he was sacked earlier this season.
The 57-year-old will obviously be keen to receive that payment, and when he does, it will mean that we might be able to pick him up on a cheaper contract.
Schmidt would be a decent option for us, although I would prefer someone like Graham Potter or Edon Terzic.
That said, we definitely could do a lot worse than the former Benfica coach.
Roger Schmidt playing style
The German favours a 4-4-2 system, with his players setting up in a mid-block.
His teams don’t usually press high up the pitch, and instead focus on making the middle of the pitch extremely difficult to play through.
When defending, Schmidt likes his players to squeeze out as much as possible, in order to limit the space available for the opposition to play in front of them.
That can leave his teams vulnerable to simple balls over the top, but with Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s recovery pace, Schmidt’s system might actually suit us.
In transition, the former Benfica boss likes his teams to play quick, counter-attacking football. In order for that to work at the London Stadium, I feel like we would need to sign a striker with explosive pace.
As mentioned earlier, Roger Schmidt wouldn’t be my first choice to replace Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, but he certainly wouldn’t be the worst option for us.
The key for the Hammers now will be moving the Spaniard on, if we want to make some genuine progress.
And if Schmidt is the man who the West Ham owners settle on, the incoming compensation payment he’s due from Benfica should make it very easy for us to appoint him.
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