Much has been made of West Ham‘s performance against Fulham last weekend.
After changing David Moyes for Julen Lopetegui in the summer, there was an element of expectation that the Hammers would be a bit more of a force to be reckoned with than they were towards end of last season, yet we had to rely on a 95th-minute equaliser to snatch a point at Craven Cottage.
Some will point to the fact a 1-1 draw is a sign of progress when comparing it to the 5-0 thrashing we were served at the same ground last season, but when it comes to the overall performance, many are saying it was much of the same.
Indeed, Lopetegui is still trying to work out what his best XI is after bringing in eight new outfield players throughout the summer. That was never going to happen overnight, nor were the players going to get a full and immediate grasp of what the Spanish boss’ preferred style and philosophy is.
Bringing in a new manager requires patience and, if in the early stages of his tenure you can see some signs of what he’s trying to do but the results aren’t quite there, it’s easy to be able to accept that time is a factor in eventually getting it right.
But there have been some complaints that there currently are no signs of what Lopetegui’s style actually is, with West Ham podcaster and sports journalist, Will Pugh, who was at Craven Cottage on Saturday, admitting on this week’s episode of the We Are West Ham Podcast that the performance at Fulham really worried him.
Pugh said: “It was really bad. Fulham really deserved to win. They [Fulham] are a lot better than people give them credit for. They’ll be absolutely fine this season, there’s no way they’ll be in a relegation battle. But we were making them look like Brazil.
“We look really leaky at the back. We did it against Aston Villa, I said we should’ve lost that one 4-1. We did it against Crystal Palace before we went on to win the game. A lot of the lads I was chatting to at half-time on Saturday were saying the same thing, that the first half against Fulham was exactly the same performance as at Palace, the only difference is we got away with it there.
“The thing that really worries me and I’m going to keep saying it, is that I’ve got no idea what the Julen Lopetegui pattern of play, or style of play, is when we have the ball. Like, how we try and build attacks, I have got no idea what it is, other than ‘quick, quick, where’s Kudus? Just smash it towards Kudus as quick as we can’ and see if he dribbles around ten hundred players.
“Jarrod Bowen was our best player last season, he plays for England and is an outstanding football player and our captain and was rewarded with a brilliant new deal, and the bloke just doesn’t get the ball anymore. When he does he still does great things, he did well at the end to keep the ball in for the goal.
“I’m really worried. It’s not a case of ‘oh look, that’s what Lopetegui’s trying to do, it’s just taking the players a bit of time to learn it, or they’re trying and they’ve not quite got the implementation spot on yet because they just need a few more weeks in training.’ It’s like, I don’t know what we are doing!”
That’s a fairly scathing assessment of Lopetegui’s West Ham after just four games of the new Premier League season.
Pugh does have a point where the style is concerned, but there was also a visible sign of an improved style of play in the defeat to Manchester City, especially in the second half when we gave them a few scares and hit the woodwork twice.
Is the performance against Fulham a sign of things to come? It’s too early to to come to a definitive conclusion but probably not. After all, this is the first game after the international break and the players who were away only had a couple of days to prepare with the rest of the players who stayed at home.
If, by October, we’re still scratching our heads about what our style and identity is, then perhaps it will be time to start asking questions.
