Another Julen Lopetegui press conference, this time in advance of West Hams’ dubious pleasure of travelling to Newcastle United under lights on Monday night without crocked Niclas Fullkrug or suspended Mohammed Kudus. If not a ‘must win’ then ‘must not get spanked’ game, it seems only the board at West Ham are expecting anything other than ‘pain’.
Lopetegui himself insists on trotting out the ‘positivity platitudes’ that say nothing about the squad or a plan to rescue performances, and everything about his ‘survivalist’ mindset right now. Of course they’re going to be ‘hard at work’ for a ‘difficult match’.
But when West Ham’s head coach refers back to the Everton game, (which, remember, Alan Shearer remarked was the worst game he’d sever seen in the Premier League) he needs to realise exactly what he is saying: “We were pleased with the second half against Everton, even though we were disappointed we didn’t score the goal that we thought we deserved. We looked more confident than the first half, and we are looking to keep some things from that performance…”
So, no goals against one of the worst performing teams in the Premier League. At home. In front of 60,000 West Ham fans in a game which was ‘must win’. And he was pleased with the second half?
Really? Let’s ask the 62,000 – odd who were at the game. Anyone pleased with the second half?
Let’s be honest, the whole 90 minutes against Everton was an utterly dismal performance.
If he is still in denial, and ‘looking to keep some things from that performance’ then he really does have desperately low standards for a hugely talented but unfocused squad of players crying out for cohesive coaching and direction.
