West Ham’s hierarchy have reacted to the latest humbling at the hands of Arsenal with a new warning to Julen Lopetegui.
Before the games against Newcastle and Arsenal it was claimed Julen Lopetegui would be sacked if West Ham lost both.
Indeed Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg even stated the Spaniard could be shown the door if West Ham suffered another hammering.
The Hammers managed to pull off a shock 2-0 win at Newcastle on Monday night.
That bought Lopetegui some breathing space.
But Steinberg, who counts Hammers majority owner David Sullivan as a close contact, has since pointed out that Lopetegui was not out of the woods yet.
The owners were impressed with the Newcastle win.
However, the Hammers hierarchy want to see proof it was indeed a turning point and not a one-off.
West Ham deserved that win at Newcastle but it was noted the hosts missed three or four golden chances too.
One step forward, two steps back for shambolic West Ham
Few expected the Hammers to beat Arsenal when they came to the London Stadium on Saturday.
But after losing 6-0 to the Gunners in February, West Ham found themselves 4-0 down after just 36 minutes.
The shambolic nature of the 5-2 defeat saw Hammers fans leave the game en masse long before the final whistle for the seventh time in 15 matches under Lopetegui.
Many now feel the Arsenal defeat proves the Newcastle win was a false dawn.
Just as pundit Jamie Carragher warned it might be as the dust settled on the surprise victory at St James’s Park.
Carragher warned West Ham ‘not to be kidded on’ by the sudden spike in performance amid talk Lopetegui’s job was on the line.
Many West Ham fans have renewed calls for the manager to be sacked after the latest in a series of unacceptable performances in heavy defeats.
The Hammers have lost 3-1 to Man City, 3-0 to Chelsea, 5-1 to Liverpool, 4-1 to Spurs, 3-0 to Forest and now 5-2 to Arsenal.
It’s also not been lost on fans that two of West Ham’s four league wins – against Palace and Man United – have been extremely fortunate.
West Ham go to Leicester on Tuesday night which now looks a must-win for the manager.
Hammers News can exclusively reveal the situation ahead of that game.
West Ham respond to thrashing with new Lopetegui warning
Baffled West Ham have responded to the Arsenal thrashing with a new Lopetegui warning.
A spokesman for the club’s owners admits they are baffled how the team can go from the Newcastle performance to the Arsenal display.
And it has been made crystal clear Lopetegui now has two games to prove he is the man to turn things around.
It was put to the key senior West Ham contact that Leicester is now massive.
And it was also pointed out that while the Foxes are themselves all over the place defensively, they will be fired up for new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in the dugout.
“Agreed on all points and Leicester is massive,” the West Ham spokesman told Hammers News.
“And Wolves is massive after that too.”
So there you have it Hammers fans.
A new two-game warning to the manager.
Leicester and Wolves ‘massive’ say Hammers hierarchy
Say what you want about the situation, the owners have been more than fair with Lopetegui so far.
At almost any other Premier League club, he would have likely been sacked by now.
Especially given the manner of the performances and defeats and the way West Ham completely capitulate.
Lopetegui’s tactics and substitutions look very suspect indeed.
Now he simply must beat Leicester and Wolves or he will find himself on the brink.
It will not be lost on West Ham’s owners that five inferior clubs with far less resources are outperforming West Ham, both in terms of the football they play and results.
Fans feel Fulham, Brighton, Brentford, Forest and Bournemouth are showing the Hammers up.
Clearly that cannot continue and the board are leaving the manager and players in no doubt what’s required over the next eight days.
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